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"A gripping American family portrait." Life changes in an instant. One day, Laruen and Emmett Sullivan's biggest worries revolve around the escalating taxes on their gorgeous Victorian beach house on Pawleys Island, South Carolina. The next, they're facing a devastating crisis. The couple has always been a team, working together to raise their daughters in this beautiful, tranquil spot on the edge of the Deep South. Now, with all their attention focused on nine-year-old Ainslie, they barely notice as their older daughter, Sloan, drifts away from them toward a reckless path that could tear the family apart.
Deeply evocative and beautifully rendered, The Ocean Inside explores what it mean to hope, to love and to fight for what matters most, even in the face of overwhelming odds. This powerful second novel from the acclaimed author of Calling Home is about the bonds between husband and wife, parents and children, and about the strength that lies within us, waiting to be tested.
Praise for The Ocean Inside
The Ocean Inside is a work that hits hard on multiple levels and is one that doesn't cater to a specific demographic. There is something women, teenagers and men can relate to hidden within its pages. It is impossible to not be touched by the honesty and courage the novel--and the author--portrays.
-Myrtle Beach Sun News
Despite its South Carolina milieu,The Ocean Inside focuses on issues that concern everyone: life's unexpected twists and turns, the daily struggle of making dollars stretch, finding satisfaction with things that seem dreary and ordinary. McMahan doesn't craft clichés, soap opera or improbable, fantastic scenarios. How her characters resolve their dilemmas and redirect their lives provides delightful and instructive reading, making The Ocean Inside a worthy successor to her 2008 novel about life in rural Kentucky, Calling Home.
-Nashville Scene
Like the ocean, mysterious and unpredictable, so too is the inner world of every individual. It is this secret and sometimes dark world Janna McMahan dredges to the surface in her scond novel, The Ocean Inside.
-Louisville Courier-Journal
McMahan's second novel is an easily accessible exploration of what can stretch the average upper-middle-class American family to just shy of the breaking point....the story is gripping and the characters all too real.
-Booklist
Vividly drawn....McMahan's descriptions of the Lowcountry and its unique climate and customs jump off the page.
-Publisher's Weekly
The situations described, the setting, and the characters all seem very real, which makes intense reading. This slice-of-life story is more an exploration of today's society, showing the depth of both the bad and good influences in a community, the calamities and ill fortune that strike, the human foibles of those ready to take advantage and those willing to help. It is well-written and worth reading, but not always comfortable.
-Romance Reviews Today Janna McMahan's compelling voice offers an honest glimpse inside a family that is falling apart. McMahan's rich landscape and vivid characters enrich a story about family bonds, love for our children, and the lush, but endangered environment. Beautifully written, heartbreakingly honest, The Ocean Inside touches the soul with a sweet sorrow.
-Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Art of Keeping Secrets
and Between the Tides
In this poignant story of a family facing an immense crisis, Janna McMahan explores the complexities of love, duty, and the ties that bind. The Ocean Inside is a beautifully crafted, mesmerizing read which I highly recommend.
-Cassandra King, author of The Sunday Wife and Queen of Broken Hearts
The Ocean Inside is a gripping American family portrait. This story combines the suspense of a murder mystery with the psychological insight of a novel like Ordinary People. The Sullivans fall apart in various ways and then glue the pieces back together again, but cracks remain. The Ocean Inside can be read for the beauty of South Carolina’s coastal landscapes, for insight into the dynamics of families under stress, or just from a need to discover what happens next.
-Lisa Alther, author of Kinfolks and Five Minutes in Heaven
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