Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • F A L L / H O L I D A Y 2 0 2 2 48 JERSEY SHORE PEOPLE The Shore at The Shore Katie Runde's Debut Novel of Love, Loss, and Growth by Jill Ocone W ith her flair for weaving lucid details and authenticity, Katie Runde's debut novel The Shore transports readers to warm beach days that aren't as delicious as they may first appear. Underneath the glitter of the ocean and the blazing summer sun is a tender and haunting bona fide story of a close-knit family facing a shocking and unexpected tragedy with an inevitable end, and how navigating a devastating illness can shape someone in ways he or she never imagined. Published by Scribner in May 2022 and met with rave reviews, The Shore centers around the Dunne family during one transformative summer of crisis alongside the boardwalk and beaches of Seaside, New Jersey. However, the Dunne family provides an angle not seen in many other Jersey Shore novels: they are not summertime visitors but year-round Seaside residents who rely upon the summer tourist economy as their main source of income. "It's a tribute to the year-long boardwalk and tourism workers who keep the shore going in the off-season," Runde said. Brian and Margot Dunne are former school teachers who built their summer rental property business from the ground up by buying units one at a time. Their teenage daughters Liz (seventeen years old) and Evy (sixteen years old) used to enjoy carefree beach days and nights lit by fire- works and bonfires until doctors diagnose Brian with glioblastoma multiform tumors (GBM). continued on page 50 The Shore, A Novel by Katie Runde, Scribner Books.

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