In Charles Bruce's fiction, the Shore families feel themselves part of a pattern, something old and continuing, a blend of past, present, and future. These men and women, almost without exception, find that deliverance is merged with the small routines, the incidents of living that they know have been part of the Shore way of life for generations. For Bruce, the chronicle of human existence on the Shore has neither beginning nor end, but contains all time. Moreover, time is not something to be denied or mastered by the individual, but rather embraced as a medium of connection between the self and others, between one's unique, personal condition and the forces behind the dates, names, and places that contribute to such uniqueness.
