The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard

 "Talk about a heart-breaker of a story!"
                                    -Alyssa

     I felt so much pain while reading this book.  To imagine the pain a mother in Beth's situation was just... I'm talking about The Deep End of the Ocean, by Jacquelyn Mitchard.  A story of how a family lost a child.  I also have to admit, once I began reading, I realized, I'd seen this movie way, way back!  But the book is so much more!

     When Beth Cappadora attends her high school reunion in Chicago, she takes her two children, Vince and Ben.  First, I wondered, who takes their children to a high school graduation, where there's drinking and lost attention, reflecting on past antics- Who takes their kids?!  It didn't matter, she had a sitter, but still.  The thing is, while getting registered and checked in to the hotel, Beth turns around for a few minutes and finds her youngest son, Ben gone...      I don't read a lot of novels like this one, but I can say, there's so much life between the covers.  It's real life - which I usually run away from - I felt every bit of Beth's pain, but I also learned to detest her.  Unfocused, hurt, lost, all emotions I understood, but she went so much deeper, that all was lost for the family.  I see why many family's break apart from something so devastating, but her son Vincent was totally forgotten for the most part.

     I began to relate to him more; he was written with much more conviction.  I don't want to say too much, but the children left behind and Pat were much more realistic to me- not saying Beth wasn't though.  I just empathized with them more.  Even Ben was easier.

     The Deep End of the Ocean is a serious book.  Should you read it, have a box of Kleenex at your side.  It's a book you will walk away from, clutching your children (4-legged included) tighter.  I'm off to the next read!

The Deep End of the Ocean
​Jacquelyn Mitchard
Published by Penguin Books
June 1996