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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
I loooooove a long, life story and this one hit so many of the right notes. (And bonus points for each of the varying POVs for having such distinct voices!) The growth in Bea and her mother was one of my absolute favorite parts of the journey, I just would have loved to see that growth in some of the other characters as well. I also feel like we missed out on some really juicy chunks of time that could have been more interesting to explore, rather than being drug through huge time hops during pivotal years.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beyond That, the Sea is a lovely character-driven historical fiction story about complicated relationships, found family, growing up, and balancing two lives, all set against the backdrop of World War II.
Beyond That, the Sea tells the story of two families on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
British parents Millie and Reginald Thompson make what feels like an impossible choice: to send their eleven-year-old daughter Beatrix to America for her safety.
The Gregorys pull Bea into the heart of their Boston family and their New England life. Bea settles in, and soon her American family and life feel more familiar than the parents she left behind.
Tragedy strikes both of her families, making Bea feel torn between the two lives she's led, each of which have without question shaped her into the person she is.
Beyond That, the Sea follows Beatrix as she struggles to navigate both worlds, returning to postwar London but never forgetting the found family that took her in as one of their own. Her ties to the Gregorys fade in some ways and strengthen and transform her world in others.
The events of the book occur because of World War II, but the story occurs largely outside of World War II tragedy and its life-and-death situations.
The point of view frequently shifts, and many chapters are short, but I felt connected to each of the characters and thought the varied perspectives were one of the book's strengths.
I loved witnessing the growth of each of the relationships in this character-driven historical fiction gem.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see Beyond That, the Sea.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
She had tried, as best she could, to braid her life with theirs. She never thought then that their futures would diverge. That there would be two lines, heading in very different directions... [She was] caught between two worlds...one old England and one New.
Beyond That, the Sea tells the story of two families on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
British parents Millie and Reginald Thompson make what feels like an impossible choice: to send their eleven-year-old daughter Beatrix to America for her safety.
The Gregorys pull Bea into the heart of their Boston family and their New England life. Bea settles in, and soon her American family and life feel more familiar than the parents she left behind.
Tragedy strikes both of her families, making Bea feel torn between the two lives she's led, each of which have without question shaped her into the person she is.
Beyond That, the Sea follows Beatrix as she struggles to navigate both worlds, returning to postwar London but never forgetting the found family that took her in as one of their own. Her ties to the Gregorys fade in some ways and strengthen and transform her world in others.
The events of the book occur because of World War II, but the story occurs largely outside of World War II tragedy and its life-and-death situations.
The point of view frequently shifts, and many chapters are short, but I felt connected to each of the characters and thought the varied perspectives were one of the book's strengths.
I loved witnessing the growth of each of the relationships in this character-driven historical fiction gem.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see Beyond That, the Sea.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
Beatrix lives in London with her mother and father when WWII is happening. It is no longer safe and the family decides it is better for Beatrix to move to America where she will be safe.
At such a young age, Beatrix rides on a boat across the Atlantic Ocean to meet the American family she will be staying with. As she slowly warms up to the family, she is also torn because her parents are in London. She enjoys her time in America, but feels conflicted as her parents are still in London during wartime.
Being torn, Beatrix tried to navigate her life with her 2 families.
This book takes you on an adventure through Beatrix’ life along with the lives of the people in her family all the way up to when she is an adult.
This was such a well written story and I cannot believe this is Laura Spencer-Ash’s debut novel! It is funny, loving, and emotional. You quickly fall in love with all the characters.
At such a young age, Beatrix rides on a boat across the Atlantic Ocean to meet the American family she will be staying with. As she slowly warms up to the family, she is also torn because her parents are in London. She enjoys her time in America, but feels conflicted as her parents are still in London during wartime.
Being torn, Beatrix tried to navigate her life with her 2 families.
This book takes you on an adventure through Beatrix’ life along with the lives of the people in her family all the way up to when she is an adult.
This was such a well written story and I cannot believe this is Laura Spencer-Ash’s debut novel! It is funny, loving, and emotional. You quickly fall in love with all the characters.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It feels like this story was written for me personally: the family relationships, the multiple POVs, all the emotions, the links to historical events, the influence of a place where you did part of your growing up, the sea…
The writing, nostalgia and the symbolism hit me at the first chapter and made me fall in love right away. The sea served both as a border and a portal, and most of all as a place whereby Beatrix learned to feel community, belonging, being at home. As William puts it years later: “Funny how places become part of who we are.” Anyone who has known such a place in their lives, will definitely find this story resonating more strongly with them.
The writing, nostalgia and the symbolism hit me at the first chapter and made me fall in love right away. The sea served both as a border and a portal, and most of all as a place whereby Beatrix learned to feel community, belonging, being at home. As William puts it years later: “Funny how places become part of who we are.” Anyone who has known such a place in their lives, will definitely find this story resonating more strongly with them.
Despite the many characters the POVs were executed really well. The short chapters from all of those involved have a beautiful pace, almost feeling like a pile of connected short stories, with half-open endings. These beautifully portray the unique details of their characters and all the complicated and layered emotions that the people involved in such a situation are having, and in those coming together, their completely different ways of dealing with them. And later on, it shows the power of memories and their individuality. Gosh, this was beautiful: the parallels, the uneasiness when different worlds collide, the little shifts that change everything… To me, this was a perfect read. And yes, the ending was predictable, but it was also the way I hoped it would turn out from quite early on, because it just made the most sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Infidelity, Car accident, War
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
Beyond That, The Sea is a delightful and heartwarming (yet not trite) historical fiction novel. I truly adored it.
The story follows Bea, a young British girl, and the Gregorys, the American family she lives with for five years to escape the bombing of London during World War II.
This is a remarkable story, brimming with themes of belonging and home. It explores complicated family relationships, both with biological family and found family and therefore reads almost like a family saga, which is surely one of the reasons I loved it so much. On top of that, I admire that the writing is wonderfully laden with descriptors of the story’s locations. I love this anytime, but found it particularly wonderful when depicting two of my favorite places: London and Boston.
The novel spans about 25 years and Laura Spence-Ash brilliantly captures the emotional development of the characters as they age. She captures wide-eyed childhood, teenage irritability, and the all-encompassing feelings of first love. Later, she beautifully captures the struggles of finding yourself in your thirties, and the combination of poignancy and regret when looking back at a formative life period. Though this story takes place 80 years ago, this aspect of the writing made the characters relatable to the point that they felt like friends.
My only hesitation with this story, and the reason it isn’t a five-star read for me, is the ending. The plot veered too much into the cheesy and coincidental territory that often drives me nuts within the historical fiction genre. Even still, Spence-Ash mostly pulls it off, but my literary and emotional mind craved more access to the behind the scenes. Of course, remaining intentionally vague here! If you’ve read it, I’d love to discuss your thoughts on the ending in my DMs!
All in all: this is an impressively beautiful debut and I cannot wait to see what the author puts out next; I will surely add whatever it is to my TBR.
The story follows Bea, a young British girl, and the Gregorys, the American family she lives with for five years to escape the bombing of London during World War II.
This is a remarkable story, brimming with themes of belonging and home. It explores complicated family relationships, both with biological family and found family and therefore reads almost like a family saga, which is surely one of the reasons I loved it so much. On top of that, I admire that the writing is wonderfully laden with descriptors of the story’s locations. I love this anytime, but found it particularly wonderful when depicting two of my favorite places: London and Boston.
The novel spans about 25 years and Laura Spence-Ash brilliantly captures the emotional development of the characters as they age. She captures wide-eyed childhood, teenage irritability, and the all-encompassing feelings of first love. Later, she beautifully captures the struggles of finding yourself in your thirties, and the combination of poignancy and regret when looking back at a formative life period. Though this story takes place 80 years ago, this aspect of the writing made the characters relatable to the point that they felt like friends.
My only hesitation with this story, and the reason it isn’t a five-star read for me, is the ending. The plot veered too much into the cheesy and coincidental territory that often drives me nuts within the historical fiction genre. Even still, Spence-Ash mostly pulls it off, but my literary and emotional mind craved more access to the behind the scenes. Of course, remaining intentionally vague here! If you’ve read it, I’d love to discuss your thoughts on the ending in my DMs!
All in all: this is an impressively beautiful debut and I cannot wait to see what the author puts out next; I will surely add whatever it is to my TBR.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting premise, but overall I felt lukewarm about this one, unfortunately. I could see the ending coming from about a third of the way in, which I suppose isn’t the worst thing (this isn’t a thriller after all), but I was disappointed when I finished. It had the feel of Legends of the Fall (a girl dropping into a family and changing everyone’s lives) but without the depth of emotion and character development. Much of the choices the author made felt forced to me (not earned). I do think I may have had unfair expectations going in - this could be a nice comfort read just not the deep historical fiction novel I was hoping to find.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Wonderful storytelling
This book sucks you in from the start. The storytelling is lush and vivid. I would definitely read further works from this author.
This book sucks you in from the start. The storytelling is lush and vivid. I would definitely read further works from this author.