Distant Lover

by Gloria Mallette

Book Overview

Bestselling author Gloria Mallete returns with a tale of a woman's quest to confront the good, the bad and the ugly truths about her past. Eighteen years after leaving home, Tandi Crawford returns to her father's house with a young son and a failed marriage behind her. She begins to search for answers to the questions that have haunted her all her adult life - her mother's mysterious death, her father's indifference and the first love she can't forget...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 075820471X
• ISBN13: 9780758204714
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Awesome Story!

Distant Lover is a page turner from start to finish! The characters in the book starting with the protagonist, Tandi are so lovable, realistic, exciting and wonderful! You will find yourself yourself not being able to put the book down! This story had me going, while I was focusing on Tandi and Jared's relationship the sub-plot centered on Sporty (Tandi's father) and Lorraine Belson (deceased mother???) was the kicker! Secrets that are kept for years will certainly come out eventually and when they do there is no telling what might happen! Ms. Mallette you are a superb storyteller and you certainly did your thing with this one! You have got to add this one to your library! May God continue to bless you with many more stories to tell and I am looking forward to reading each and every one of them. Now I have to go back and read "When We Practice" as I am sure that I will not be disappointed!!!!! An Avid Fan! Darlene

Mallette Does It Again

Distant Lover is the fifth novel of Gloria Mallette. Although Mallette's last novel, The Honeywell, was a tough act to follow, Gloria has once again risen to the occasion. Tandi Crawford is in a dead end marriage that she is has been desperately trying to save. Finally convinced that her work-a-holic husband is not putting in the relationship as much as she is, Tandi is ready to throw in the towel. Jared, Tandi's husband feels that as long as he is bringing home the bacon he is doing his part. When enough finally becomes enough, Tandi decides to take her son and leave. Due to her father's declining health she is forced to move back to the childhood home that she has always despised. Sporty, her father has never been good to Tandi and she is mortified that she will have to once again live under his roof. The bright side to all the things going on in Tandi's life is that she has reunited with her first love, Brent. But he winds up not being half the man that he used to be. During this period of change for Tandi she has some serious soul searching to do. Although the many unanswered questions are the main things standing in the way of Tandi's real happiness, some things are best left unanswered. Gloria Mallette has the touch when it comes to stories on dysfunctional families. Giving her novels a touch of warmth while allowing her readers to feel for even the most sinister characters Ms. Mallette has a gift that many writers will never understand. Distant Lover is definitely a novel that will make you appreciate the family that you have.

A title says a million words

I loved this book from the beginning to the end, never a dull moment, while reading I kept thinking "oh I see why its intitled Distant Lover" boy was I wrong until I got almost to the end is where I realized the meaning of the title then later in the book my instincts were confirmed. Great story line she is a very gifted writer I haven't read a book she wrote that I wasn't pleased with. Five stars is not enough for this book it is a page turner.

Don't be fooled by the title---Distant Lover not a romance

When I saw this title, I thought it was a romance and started to not buy it. But having read other Gloria Mallette books, I figured there had to be an edge to the book and I was right. Distant Lover is more than about the relationship between a man and a woman as lovers, but more about all the relationships in the life of Tandi Crawford. Be it her husband, her father, her brother, her girl friends, her first love from high school, Tandi had to come to terms with each of these people and realize that none of her relationships were as she thought, the misconceptions of who she thought each of these people were turns Tandi's life upside down. Distant Lover is food for thought and that old adage, never judge a book by the cover pertains to this title and its characters. Good read. Highly recommended.

An emotional journey

DISTANT LOVER is a passionate, emotional story encompassing the perils of Tandi Crawford's efforts to live a normal adult life even though examples of normalcy was never within her grasp. Tandi grew up without the presence of a mother's love and in the presence of a father who displayed hostile indifference. Additionally, her father offered no input about the mother she never knew. In spite of her past, Tandi strives to share a conventional life with her husband and son. But how do you trust when your life has been founded on lies, evasiveness and non-commitment? This questions looms paramount in Tandi's mind when after fifteen years of a pallid marriage, she discovers her husband is having an affair. She accepts his indiscretion, but her emotions shut down, and three years later Tandi cannot take anymore of their union. She leaves her marriage in search of her past. Although she vowed to never live in her father's house again, she finds herself and her eleven year old son back in his gloomy environment. Tandi's wants to recapture days long gone with her first love, and to finally get answers about the mother she never knew. But, her father suffers a stroke and again, she catches her husband in bed with another women - this time her best friend. Suddenly she feels totally disconnected. When she becomes privileged to some surreal family revelations, Tandi realizes nothing in her life is as she imagined and wishes she had left the past in the past. Tandi finally realizes she is the master of her fate. DISTANT LOVER is the sixth published work by Gloria Mallette, and with it comes the realization for me that she is indeed a story teller possessing the gift of sharing life's dramas in a profound way. She writes a sympathetic story of secrets, betrayal and forgiveness and weaves this complex family tale with a definitive flair. Captivating, suspenseful, and solidly written, this one gives a different look at redemption and an in-depth look at emotional fallout when consequences are manifested.