Introduction

An arresting and absorbing novel that spans decades, drawing us into the turbulent lives of a family in Southern California after the sudden death of the father

Beginning in 1962 with a shocking loss, SHINING SEA quickly pulls us into the lives of forty-three -year-old Michael Gannon's widow and offspring. Brilliantly described and utterly alive on the page, the Gannon clan find themselves charting paths they never anticipated, for decades to come. Told with a cinematic sweep, SHINING SEA transports us from World War II to the present day, crisscrossing from the beaches of Southern California to the Woodstock rock festival, from London's gritty nightlife in the eighties to Scotland's remote Inner Hebrides, from the dry heat of Arizona to the fertile farmland of Massachusetts.

Epic, tender, and beautifully rendered, SHINING SEA is the portrait of an American family-a profound depiction of the ripple effects of war, the passing down of memory, the making of myth, and the power of the ideal of heroism to lead us astray but sometimes also to keep us afloat.

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

Good Friday – April 20, 1962

Michael

A crowd of sparrows flies up, peppering the California sky overhead. His heart constricts, and Michael Gannon thinks: Today is the day I am going to die.

“Look at that cloud,” Luke says, lowering his paintbrush. “It’s going to rain.”

“It’s not going to rain,” he tells his middle son, struggling to catch his breath. “Don’t give up in the home stretch, Luke. Another hour, and the house will be done.”

His heart squeezes; his fingers and jaw stiffen. You’ll be all right, corpsman, the doctor at Letterman told him, signing his release sixteen years ago. There were more than seventy thousand of them moving through Letterman Army Hospital in Frisco that year. If you could make it through the Bataan march and three years in the hands of the Japs, you can make it now. You’ll be all right. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. What does the title SHINING SEA mean to you?

2. How does Michael’s legacy as a WWII veteran, former POW, and ultimately war hero affect his family? If you or members of your own family have served or had a first-hand experience of war has it influenced you or their world views?

3. On page 10, Michael realizes that Barbara “is a girl who will fight to the end, fight to remain cheerful no matter what life throws at her.” Much later, on page 244, Barbara says she’s “been lucky, really.” Do you consider Barbara to be a lucky person? Is positive thinking useful or an act of denial? Can it be both?

4. Francis finds his extraordinary good looks to be a burden. Do you think this would be less the case were he a woman? Does his gender affect your response to how he comes to use his beauty?
5. Why does Eugene do what he does halfway into SHINING SEA? Do you believe Francis is implicated? What responsibilities do we have towards our friends, and does having good fortune carry additional responsibilities?

6. Michael Gannon is called a hero for having saved the lives of fellow POWs. But “hero” can have diverse definitions. On page 143, Francis says about the Vietnam War that in the US “some people consider conscientious objectors to have been traitors and others consider them to be heroes.” What makes someone a hero, in your eyes? Could any of the other characters also be considered a hero? Whom in real life would you call a hero? Why?

7. What do you think of Patty Ann and her life choices?

8. Nature plays a pivotal role in the Scotland section of the novel, much of which takes place at sea. But if you think back over the whole of the book, does the frequency of nature’s impact on the story surprise you? Are we always conscious of the role of nature in our lives and the modern world?

9. Towards the end of the novel, the question arises as to whether two of the characters have had a “real” marriage. Do you think they have? What do you think constitutes a “real” marriage? Has it changed over history?

10. The Gannons describe themselves as “an American family.” Is their experience particularly American? What does it mean to be an American family?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Author's web site
»	Reviews
»	Follow the Author on Facebook
»	Follow the author on Twitter
»	Follow the author on Instagram

Book Club Recommendations

Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 1 members.

Member Reviews

Rate this book