# The Ocean House: Stories - Hardcover

by **Mary-Beth Hughes** (Author)

**A stunning story cycle from bestselling _New York Times_ Notable author, Mary-Beth Hughes, _The Ocean House_ explores the fractured lives of families from a beach town on the Jersey Shore as the consequences of loss pass through generations.**

Faith, a mother of two young children, Cece and Connor, is in need of summer childcare. As a member of a staid old beach club in her town and a self-made business consultant, she is appalled when her brother-in-law sends her an unruly, ill-mannered teenager named Lee-Ann who appears more like a wayward child than competent help. What begins as a promising start to a redemptive relationship between the two ends in a tragedy that lands Faith in a treatment facility, leveled by trauma.

Years later, Faith and her mother, Irene, visit Cece in college. A fresh-faced student with a shaved head and new boyfriend, Cece has become a force of her own. Meanwhile, her grandmother, Irene, is in the early stages of dementia. She slips in and out of clarity, telling lucid tales of her own troubled youth. Faith dismisses her mother's stories as bids for attention. The three generations of women hover between wishful innocence and a more knowing resilience against the cruelty that hidden secrets of the past propel into the present.

Including stories from an array of characters orbiting Faith's family, _The Ocean House_ weaves an exquisite world of complicated family tales on the Jersey Shore. In ever-tender and elegant prose, Mary-Beth Hughes masterfully explores the emotional consequences of loss and the saving graces of love.

### Author Biography

**Mary-Beth Hughes** is the author of the bestselling novel _Wavemaker II,_ a _New York Times_ Notable Book, and the acclaimed collection _Double Happiness_, which earned a Pushcart Prize. Her latest book, _The Loved Ones,_ was a _New York Times_ Editors' Choice. Her stories have been published in _The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Georgia Review,_ and _A Public Space_. She lives in Brooklyn and Rhinebeck, New York.

**Number of Pages:** 208

**Dimensions:** 1.1 x 8.3 x 5.8 IN

**Publication Date:** January 12, 2021

## Details

- **Price:** 26.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 26.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- The Ocean House: Stories - Hardcover

---

> Source: [Smart supply deals](https://smartsupplydeals.com/products/the-ocean-house-stories-hardcover)
> Updated: 2026-07-23