Beyond That, the Sea

This debut novel by Laura Spence-Ash is a slow-paced, character-driven historical fiction that spans a 25 year timeframe from the beginning of WWII through 1965. It tells the story of a young girl, Beatrix, who is sent from London to Boston to live with an American family while London is unsafe due to the war. The book explores how children who were shipped to safety are affected by being uprooted and how the relationships they form with their host families impact their lives both during and after the war.

Beatrix, or Bea, adapts well to her life in Boston and Maine, where the family spends its summers. She grows attached to the Gregory family during the five years she spends with them. She struggles when she returns to London because Boston and Maine now feel more like home to her. The book follows Bea, the members of the Gregory family, and Bea's mother over the course of 25 years as their lives and relationships evolve.

This book is very well-written with beautiful descriptive language. The author captures moments vividly so the setting and the character's emotions are imprinted on the reader's mind. The book moves at a slow pace that I found very relaxing even though much of the content is deeply emotional. There is an almost melancholy feeling to the reading experience but in a satisfying way, like the calming of a rainstorm.

There are many points of view in the book, some more necessary to the story than others. I often wished while reading that the points of view of some characters would be developed more and that some would not have been included at all. The first part of the story focused on Bea and her two families, and I found the development satisfying. In the second and third parts, other voices were added and chunks of time were skipped leaving me feeling like there were gaps in the development.

I really enjoyed my experience reading this book. I cared about the characters and the outcome of their individual stories. I am interested to see what the author produces next.

Started out promising, with a strong sense of time and place. Unfortunately, the book loses steam in the post-WWII sections that take place in the 1950s and 1960s. There are too many POV characters diluting the emotional impact of the story, and the fascinating portrayal of a young girl sent from England to America for her own safety turns into soapy melodrama.

Here I am again judging a book entirely by its cover. Thankfully, what was promised visually did not disappoint. In fact, I think I actually enjoyed it more than I was expecting to.

When the Germans begin bombing London, Beatrix is sent by her parents to stay with a family in America. She remains in Boston with the Gregorys until the end of the war. It's a lot of change for an eleven-year-old, but she pushes through it and eventually bonds with her host family.

I'm not sure why, but I was surprised to see this book had multiple parts. First, we get glimpses of Beatrix's time in America. Subsequently, we see her life in the decades following the war and her reconnection with the Gregorys.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book quite a bit, though I'm not a huge fan of dialogue mid-paragraph or dialogue without quotations, I got used to it. The story was beautifully put together. I especially loved reading about Beatrix's adolescence in America. I haven't seen a lot of books that show British children that evacuated to America. A lovely read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with a free digital ARC of the book to read and review!