"Cheryl Espinosa-Jones writes of grief and reconciliation and their subtle interplay with much understanding and love." -- Sheila Kohler, award-winning author, including two O’Henry awards, of Once We Were Sisters
“Cheryl Espinosa-Jones’ compelling book An Ocean Between Them is a pleasure from beginning to end. A page-turner filled with strong and memorable characters, this story helps us transform life’s challenges into wise and loving action.
Espinosa-Jones introduces a diverse family of mixed races, beliefs, ages, and sexual orientations struggling with old and seemingly irreparable wounds. Serious illness is the spiritual catalyst that loosens old resentments and heals broken relationships. The main characters know they may have limited time to learn to love and trust again. As a therapist and host of a radio show about grief, Espinosa-Jones gently weaves in the power of honest communication, community, heart-felt apology, and hospice support.
Throughout the book, I was deeply moved by the courage of the strong women characters. I wept with them over their losses and celebrated their second chances and achievements. After reading An Ocean Between Them, I know for sure that human hearts heal when they are loved rather than judged.” -- Elaine Mansfield, IPPY award-winning author of Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief
“In An Ocean Between Them, Cheryl Espinosa-Jones reminds us there are gifts in even our deepest pains, and that if we're open and courageous enough to acknowledge them, we can change our lives in transcendent ways. This heartwarming, beautiful novel is a love story on many fronts — between adoring spouses, between a community of friends, and perhaps most poignantly, between a mother and daughter who find a way to reconnect and forgive one another when it matters the most. This book is a testament to the power of acceptance, commitment, and love.” -- Scott Stabile, Author of Big Love: The Power of Living with a Wide-Open Heart
“A sensitively crafted and richly imagined story of love, loss, and healing. Cheryl Espinosa-Jones has gifted us with a tale that takes us into the complex tangle of relationships strained by judgments and distance. Grief becomes solvent, softening the hardened heart and breaking it open to revelation. An Ocean Between Them reveals what is possible when we enter the alchemy of sorrow. A wise and tender book.” -- Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief
“Cheryl Espinosa-Jones displays the full range of her great, universe-wide heart through the most intimate exploration of what it means to love, to lose and to grieve the very specific things that fill our worlds with color, and in so doing, lets us know that as she has done, our own lives may be richly transformed and burnished into diamonds of clarity, seeing and even greater living.” -- Marie Matsuki Mockett, author of Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye
