"A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own. As German bombs fall over London in 1940, working-class parents Millie and Reginald Thompson make an impossible choice: they decide to send their eleven-year-old daughter, Beatrix, to America. There, she'll live with another family for the duration of the war, where they hope ...
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"A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own. As German bombs fall over London in 1940, working-class parents Millie and Reginald Thompson make an impossible choice: they decide to send their eleven-year-old daughter, Beatrix, to America. There, she'll live with another family for the duration of the war, where they hope she'll stay safe. Scared and angry, feeling lonely and displaced, Bea arrives in Boston to meet the Gregorys. Mr. and Mrs. G, and their sons William and Gerald, fold Bea seamlessly into their world. She becomes part of this lively family, learning their ways and their stories, adjusting to their affluent lifestyle. Bea grows close to both boys, one older and one younger, and fills in the gap between them. Before long, before she even realizes it, life with the Gregorys feels more natural to her than the quiet, spare life with her own parents back in England. As Bea comes into herself and relaxes into her new life-summers on the coast in Maine, new friends clamoring to hear about life across the sea-the girl she had been begins to fade away, until, abruptly, she is called home to London when the war ends. Desperate as she is not to leave this life behind, Bea dutifully retraces her trip across the Atlantic back to her new, old world. As she returns to post-war London, the memory of her American family stays with her, never fully letting her go, and always pulling on her heart as she tries to move on and pursue love and a life of her own. As we follow Bea over time, navigating between her two worlds, Beyond That, the Sea emerges as a beautifully written, absorbing novel, full of grace and heartache, forgiveness and understanding, loss and love"--
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To protect her from the impending war, Beatrix's parents send her from their home in London to America in 1940, when she is only 11-years-old. BEYOND THAT, THE SEA, follows Beatrix as she lives with an American family in Boston, summering in coastal Maine, finally returning to London once the war is over.
BEYOND THAT, THE SEA tells the story of a girl torn between two worlds -- the home she left in England and the home she's come to accept as her own in America. This piece of historical fiction had a different feel from the typical WWII books I've read in that the war is an important aspect in creating the setting and for some factors of the plot, but takes a back seat overall to the characters as they are truly the main focus. The author has created compelling characters. I was immediately swept away into Beatrix's story from page one and became equally enamored by the other characters. The chapters are short and rotate narration focus which I enjoyed. The timeline takes place over several decades. There is a running timeline printed at the bottom of each page indicating the year of the current chapter's setting which is beyond fantastic. I wish more books would have this, especially those with nonlinear timelines as it's sometimes hard to keep it straight when the only indication is at the beginning of the chapter. Themes including family, love, loss, regrets, coming-of-age, wealth, and secrets are explored. Characters navigate dynamics of their relationship with their family, those they are connected to through Beatrix, and their sense of self. BEYOND THAT, THE SEA was beautifully written and I had a hard time putting it down.
I'd highly recommend BEYOND THAT, THE SEA to fans of historical fiction. I'd be interested in reading future works by the author.
