It's a Love Story

The Oak Shore, Long Island, setting symbolizes freedom and renewal. When Jane Jackson accompanies Dan Finnegan to Oak Shore, she isn’t sure what to expect. She knows she and Dan will be staying with his family and hunting down Jack Quinlan in the meantime. However, she doesn’t anticipate how this idyllic seaside location will open her heart and teach her to love and heal.

Traveling to Oak Shore offers Jane an escape from her vocational and personal challenges back in Los Angeles. Whereas LA is a bustling urban environment that pressures Jane to prove herself and succeed, Oak Shore inspires her to rest and relax. Her description of the setting upon arriving in Oak Shore foreshadows its emotional impact on her:

It’s a classic small town, like you’d see on TV. Andy Griffith could live here. Library, gift shop, bakery, diner. Old-fashioned streetlights and leafy elm trees. Kids are riding bikes without helmets, steering with one hand while holding ice cream cones. We have pockets of this in Los Angeles […] but they look different, like they’re too new (81).

Oak Shore is a safe place that facilitates peace and family life.