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busymomsreadtoo 's review for:
Beyond That, the Sea
by Laura Spence-Ash
Right off the bat, I can say that this is a unique and beautifully written historical fiction. The chapters are short, it has multiple POVs, and the prose is poetic in nature. I was immediately sucked in with these aspects that I do not normally see in HF novels. It also was not the typical WW2 setting that I am drawn to.
Bea is sent to live in America with a new family to avoid the perils of war. She becomes close to her temporary family, especially one of the brothers. Suddenly, she needs to return back to London and she needs to navigate all the emotions and trials this brings up. As we follow along her journey, we see the point of view of all those involved and feel like we become family with these people. We see their flaws and struggles on full display, which reminded me so much about the real relationships we have in real life.
Rather than focusing on the war, this book focuses more on the drama and lives of ordinary people changed by the arrival and departure of a young girl. We see themes of destiny, love, heartache, pain, and loss. I did not appreciate the repeated adultery, but I found this book to be totally engrossing. I was longing to find out what happened to each character in the book. I shed tears throughout, desperate alongside Bea, Nancy, and William. What a strange yet fascinating read! One reason I did not give it 5 stars was because I liked Part 1 vastly more than the others. I found that the change in writing style in Part 2 caught me off guard and the introduction of Rose in Part 3 was not very interesting. Thank you to Celadon for my advanced copy for review.
Content Warnings: Adultery, language, war time themes, sexual content (mostly fade to black, vulgar language)
Bea is sent to live in America with a new family to avoid the perils of war. She becomes close to her temporary family, especially one of the brothers. Suddenly, she needs to return back to London and she needs to navigate all the emotions and trials this brings up. As we follow along her journey, we see the point of view of all those involved and feel like we become family with these people. We see their flaws and struggles on full display, which reminded me so much about the real relationships we have in real life.
Rather than focusing on the war, this book focuses more on the drama and lives of ordinary people changed by the arrival and departure of a young girl. We see themes of destiny, love, heartache, pain, and loss. I did not appreciate the repeated adultery, but I found this book to be totally engrossing. I was longing to find out what happened to each character in the book. I shed tears throughout, desperate alongside Bea, Nancy, and William. What a strange yet fascinating read! One reason I did not give it 5 stars was because I liked Part 1 vastly more than the others. I found that the change in writing style in Part 2 caught me off guard and the introduction of Rose in Part 3 was not very interesting. Thank you to Celadon for my advanced copy for review.
Content Warnings: Adultery, language, war time themes, sexual content (mostly fade to black, vulgar language)