The Deep End of the Ocean
In The Deep End of the Ocean, Jacquelyn Mitchard tells a heartrending story of a family who have lost their three year-old son. The boy's mysterious disappearance draws nationwide attention, and the news media continues to hound the distressed family for a number of years.
Beth, mother of Kerry, Ben and Vincent, takes her children with her to Chicago where she will attend a high school class reunion. Her husband Pat questions the wisdom of taking the young children to such an event, but Beth persists. When they get to the hotel where most of the alumni are staying, Beth's excitement momentarily distracts her from her children, and a few minutes later, Ben is gone.
This puts a damper on the class reunion, but many of Beth's friends and classmates get in on the search. The police also become active, especially Candy, a woman officer who has had prior experience in finding lost children. But by the end of the week, all that can be found is one of Ben's small tennis shoes.
Beth's and Pat's parents also become involved, and they are so sure the boy will be found that at Christmas time, many months later, they put gifts for him under the tree. But Beth is more realistic and tells them, "I don't want to do a bunch of stupid things to pretend that my baby is alive and on his way home." So she begins to isolate herself at home, away from both family and friends.
At the next class reunion, five years later, Ben's other shoe shows up near the registration counter in the same hotel. This only indicates that one of Beth's classmates could have stolen or possibly killed her son, which compounds the family's grief and anger. Pat chastises Beth,"You're trying to figure out a way we can all be miserable again, so that you can take another nine year powder."
Actually the antagonism in the story is mostly rooted in the family itself. Beth, Pat and their oldest son Vincent often place blame on themselves for the boy's loss but take it out on each other. They are only victims of circumstance, a terrible circumstance, where no one can truly be blamed, but everyone suffers.
Jacquelyn Mitchard's touching and compelling story in The Deep End of the Ocean may evoke tears from the reader, but not always tears of sadness. The novel was published in 1996 and was selected by Oprah's Book Club and Book of the Month Club.