Changing Tides

By: Michael Thomas Ford

Narrated by: Blake Somerset

Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Marine biologist Ben Ransome understands the sea, especially the tiny, beautiful sea slugs he has studied and admired for most of his life. What Ben doesn't understand are people, and now, one of the most important people in his life - his 16-year-old daughter, Caddie - is coming to live with him for the summer. But the sweet, happy child he remembers has been replaced by a wounded, angry stranger who resents everything about her father. Caddie is determined to act out in every way, leaving Ben feeling more alone than ever.

Hudson Jones has come to Monterey, California, to find the answers to all his questions. The young, ambitious graduate student believes he's found a lost John Steinbeck novel called Changing Tides that seems to hint at the author's love for his best friend, Ed "Doc" Ricketts. If he can prove it, his career will be made. And then, perhaps he can quiet the personal demons that haunt him. But first, he'll need some local help in his research, and Ben just may be able to supply him with access to the information he needs. It's clear to Hudson that the handsome, quietly passionate Ben needs some help, too - with Caddie and his life.

Sharing dinners and walks on the beach, intellectual discussions and heart-to-heart conversations, Ben and Hudson move from tentative friendship to a surprising, revelatory relationship, one with the power to point them toward the most important discoveries of their lives. For Ben, it's a summer of new beginnings, even as his daughter embarks on a dangerous course that will test the new happiness he's found....

Changing Tides is an extraordinary novel that explores the glorious flaws and frailties of human beings in the never-ending struggle to connect, to be open to love, and to embrace the unknown in order to live fully.

©2008 Michael Thomas Ford (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Daddy Issues

Can someone say Daddy issues? An exploration of father daughter relationships, plus a love story and rescue all in one.

Letting the past go

As a man who is divorced with a 15yr. Old daughter who is about to spend the summer with her dad. Who is disconnected and more in microbiology, but finds that that’s not the best way to go about things with her or his life.

Changing Tides

'Changing Tides' tells the story of a father and daughter reconnecting over chasms of regrets and generational differences. The story takes place the summer that 16 year old Caddie Ransome is dropped off to live with her estranged father, Ben, a marine biologist living in Monterey. Ford's portrayal of Caddie manages to capture both her savvy to manipulate situations and her vulnerability -- her fear of rejection, her need for affection, attention and security. Ford's construction of Ben Ransome is equally honest. Socially awkward and minimally engaged with the world above water, Ben nevertheless persists in his attempt to understand the person who is his daughter, while navigating the awakening of his sexual desire for the intriguing Hudson Jones, who is in town to research the homoerotic tensions in Steinbeck's relationship with Ed Ricketts. It is an optimistic portrait of the power of honesty in interpersonal relationships, painted with a deep respect for the complexity of ordinary people.

Sounds like a college lecture

Sounded like a college lecture. The narrator droned on with little inflection and difference between characters. Also trite linguistic comparisons seemed overdone. I could not get past Ch 10.