# 6 - Beyond That, the Sea

a book review

Like some other readers, World War Two novels have worn out their welcome for me. I have read too many that feel emotionally manipulative, so I’ve found myself avoiding them altogether for the most part. However, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash seemed to be one that had a different story to tell - one that I hadn’t heard before - so I decided to pick it up.

Now that I’ve added the ‘back-side of a woman’ cover here, it seems I should have known this would not be the fresh WW2 story I had imagined.

What worked for me?

The story reads quickly and tells a different perspective from other WW2 stories I’ve read - that of a young British girl sent to live with an American family in the wake of the London bombings. The writing is good and I never wanted to not finish, but overall I felt lukewarm about it (at best).

What didn’t work for me?

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, not earned.

So, how did I rate it?

3.25 stars. 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.