In the Distance There Is Light
GENRE
LGBT ROMANCE
Core Theme
LOSS, LOVE, REBIRTH
TIME PERIOD
Contemporary
COMPARABLE TITLES
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (2010), CHLOE, GRACE AND FRANKIE
CHARACTER LIST
SOPHIE WINTERS: 30. LEAD. EDUCATED, FAITHFUL, ROMANTIC, COMPLEX.
DOLORES FLEMMING: 56. LEAD. CONFIDENT, EMPATHETIC, CHARMING, SOPHISTICATED.
JEREMY: 35. SIDEKICK,
BADASS, BLUNT, FUNNY, UNAPOLOGETIC
Logline
Two women lose the man they love. All they have left is each other.
Target Audiences
Age: 35-54
Target Gender: LGBT leaning
Setting
Chicago
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: self-published
Year Published: 2016
Starting Description
After her partner dies in a terrible accident, Sophie thinks she’ll never recover. But when her sorrow leads her to Ian's stepmother, Dolores, who understands the depth of her grief, Sophie is shocked to find herself wondering: Is it too soon to love again?
Ending Description
Sophie and Dolores accept their feelings for each other. Happy ever after.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
Information not completed
Mature Audience Themes
Nudity, Language/Profanity
Plot - Other Elements
Happy Ending, Meaningful Message
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Main Character Details
Name: Sophie Winters
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Educated, Faithful, Romantic, Complex, Desperate
Additional Character Details
Name: Dolores Flemming
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Role: Emotional
Key Traits: Complex, Confident, Educated, Empathetic, Romantic, Sophisticated, Beautiful, Charming
Additional Character Details
Name: Jeremy
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Role: Sidekick
Key Traits: Badass, Blunt, Charming, Confident, Funny, Unapologetic
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Brief
After the death of her life partner, a young woman seeks comfort in the arms of his equally bereaved stepmother.
What We Liked
- Well-drawn relationships between the characters and their emotional journey;
- Strong female leads;
- Strong character development;
- Forbidden romance;
- Controversial yet truthful, sensitive subject matter;
- Author with a LGBT following.
Synopsis
Sophie Winters is a 30 year old investigative journalist in Chicago who is happily enmeshed in a relationship with the love of her life, an architect called Ian. She doesn’t have a particularly positive relationship with her parents and doesn’t want much engagement with them, especially her mother who is a malignant narcissist. Sophie is much more comfortable with Ian’s family. He has an estranged father who lives in England, but was raised by two moms, Angela, who is his biological mother, and Dolores, his stepmother and Angela’s lover. Angela died of cancer several years before Ian and Sophie began dating, but she is still a strong presence in the lives of Ian and Dolores.
Being environmentally conscious, Ian tries to ride his bike whenever he can. While riding, he sees a delivery truck backing up and it causes him to lose his balance and crash onto the sidewalk. Without wearing a helmet, Ian is killed when his head hits the pavement. The man driving the truck, which decidedly did not hit Ian, is absolved of responsibility and Ian’s death is ruled a tragic freak accident. Sophie is plunged into sadness and despair.
Unable to sleep and return to living in the apartment she shared with Ian, Sophie stays with her best friend and coworker, Jeremy. Though Jeremy is nurturing enough, Sophie feels more of a connection with Ian’s beautiful stepmother, Dolores, since she is the one person who can truly understand the depth of her loss. Dolores invites Sophie to stay with her during the intense grieving period immediately following Ian’s death. Hoping to find some relief in sleep, Sophie accepts Dolores’ invitation to share a bed with her. Sophie feels protected and safe with Dolores and is finally able to sleep. As time passes, Sophie and Dolores grow more intimate and soon fall in love.
Confused and encouraged to figure out what is next for her life, Sophie argues with Dolores which results in their break up and Sophie’s subsequent move out of Dolores’ house. They are brought back together again by an encounter with Albert Davis, the man involved in Ian’s accident. Upon seeing each other again, Sophie and Dolores realize that they do love each other and want to give their relationship a second go. With time passage and Sophie’s re-entrance to her life without Ian, she and Dolores are able to move forward in a healthy though unconventional relationship.