Beyond That,The Sea is a beautiful story of a young girl sent to the U.S. to live with another family during WWII. It was moving and well written.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Told from multiple points of view, it is heartwarming with well-developed and likeable characters. Set over more than forty years on both sides of the Atlantic, the story will remain with me for quite some time.

We are first introduced to eleven-year-old Beatrix and her family in London in 1940. Her working-class London parents have made a difficult decision to send her to the U.S. to live with a family in Boston to spare her from possible harm.

Beatrix or as she’s known in the U.S., Bea, is placed with The Gregorys, a loving family with two boys of their own. It doesn’t take long for Bea to settle in and she begins to feel like part of the family. William Gregory is the oldest of the two boys and wants to find his own path in life after high school, not following in the footsteps of his Harvard-educated father and grandfather. Gerald is the younger brother and the more compassionate son.

The years pass, the war ends and Beatrix returns to London. We follow each of the characters over the next few decades through death, marriage and the birth of children. The two families are forever tied through Beatrix’s time in Boston and continue corresponding through the decades.

The ability to read from the point of view of many characters in the book gave the reader great insight into the complexity of these families. One of the most poignant moments was when Beatrix learns that her mother and Mrs. Gregory had begun corresponding many years after Beatrix’s return to London. The conclusion of the book is beautiful and the perfect ending to this story.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book which was performed by Ell Potter. Her ability to provide both British and US accents to male and female characters was extraordinary. The tone and quality of her voice made it easy to listen to. I have no hesitation in recommending the audiobook version of this book to those that enjoy audiobooks.

I highly recommend this book to those readers who enjoy Historical Fiction or Women’s Fiction.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

4.5 stars (rounded up to 5).

Beyond That The Sea is a historical fiction set during WW2 which follows an English girl sent to America to wait out the war. When she is finally allowed to return home, she struggles with leaving her adopted American family behind. What follows is a story that spans several decades, multiple countries, and a multitude of trials.

The strongest point of this story for me was the main character Beatrix. I thought she felt very authentic at the various ages we see her at. In particular, her child and pre-teen version is very compelling. Her desire to not be babied and even to rebel a bit all seemed very natural for her age. Her guilt at not being present for certain events also makes sense as the world is in chaos, but she's safely hidden away in the States.

I was a bit nervous when it became apparent that the romance aspect of the book would become more prominent as I am not a big romance reader. However, this was tastefully done and there was still a lot to the story aside from just the romantic element. I will say that I did find it a bit predictable in terms of who fell in love when and in what order, but it didn't really deter me from enjoying the book.

I do wish there had been a bit more detail about the war and how it affected things when it finally reached America. I know some details were included, but I feel like most of it was glossed over and resolved pretty quickly. I know that because the family Beatrix is living with is wealthy, they are protected to some degree, so that makes it understandable that they wouldn't necessarily feel it as deeply as a poor or middle class family might, but I do think it might be a bit more prominent or worrisome than it comes across in the book.

As for the audiobook version of this book, I did think the narrator did a good job. Their voice was pleasant to listen to and was easy to follow. I did have to speed up the audio a bit, but that is normal with audiobooks for me.

All in all, if you enjoy historical fiction mixed with coming of age and romance that spans a couple of decades, you'll likely enjoy this book.

Thank you to the publisher for the physical copy of the book and to Netgalley for the audio-galley! This in no way affects my ability to objectively review this book.

This was a devastatingly beautiful story.

Laura Spence-Ash put me in the shoes of Bea. Her parents distraught from the terrors of war. Bea, a young girl sent away to America. A new world. A new culture. A new lifestyle. A new family. It’s an early lived whirlwind that will lead her to a life that gives her love and loss.

I loved this story. I thought it was so beautiful to see all these character’s live through these peculiar and tragic living situations only to find themselves as one big loving unit in the end.

“Beyond That, The Sea” is a lovely generational story. I love the way it was written. I love that we didn’t just get to follow Bea. We get to see the way Nancy, Ethan, Millie, Reginald, Gerald and William think and feel throughout these tragic moments.

My favorite theme of this book had to be motherhood. Millie had her motherhood stolen from her because of war yet Nancy was given this beautiful gift of mother-daughter companionship. Seeing how Beatrix’s relationships with these two women developed throughout the story took me through so many emotions. My heart broke. It was warmed with love. It left me shocked. It hurt me. It made me cry. It made me appreciate my mother.

I can’t imagine the life that these women had to endure.

This book. Ugh. It really broke my heart. I will say it a million times.

[SPOILERS]

The double life Bea had to live ripped my heart in half. She truly ended up with two identities.

Her childhood taught her the beauty of America. Her sense of home was formed around Gregory's love. Her first true love was on the beaches of Maine. America became her comfort zone. Her identity.

Yet, it’s all ripped away from her when the war ended. London was calling her home.

It was so tragic having to live with Bea having to learn her love for her mother again. To grasp her old life in London. To completely abandon the people she had come to care for so deeply in America.

I can’t even wrap my head around how confusing, frustrating and sad that she felt.

This is a great debut from Laura Spence-Ash.

Reading her book is eye-opening. It will make you appreciate your home and your loved ones deeper.

I highly recommend the physical or the audiobook.

Nell Potter did a beautiful job narrating. Listening to her tell this story helped me feel the emotions deeper.

I love the physical copy. Spence-Ash provided a timeline on the bottom right hand corner of the pages to help guide the reader throughout the story. I thought that was very creative and helpful!

Historical fiction fans will need this in their collection!

If you love, “Beyond That, The Sea” is calling your name:
Multiple POV’s
A generational story
Found families
The idea of home
A love story
If you love stories that will make you SOB!

Thank you NetGalley, Celadon Books and MacMillan Audio for the early copy of this book.

Get your copy tomorrow!!

Don't forget to support your favorite authors by following them on all social platforms and review their stories on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all other retail sites that sell books!

Absolutely fantastic, this was a five star read I could not put down. The audio was perfection and this will be in my top reads for sure. I have not read a historical fiction in a while and I forget how much I enjoy this genre when I read books such as this. It sounds as if it is another WWII book but this really is not, it touches on it a bit, yes, but it is more a coming of age about Bea, who is sent to America at 11 years old from London to live with a family at the height of the war and returns home when it is over. During that 5 year period of time, she becomes so intertwined in her new ‘family’ as well as America that she does not want to leave, and when she goes home her relationship with her mother is strained to say the least but she adjusts back to her life in London. There is so much more in between I do not want to spoil anything, you need to read this wonderful book for yourself. It is captivating and so well written that I lost a Saturday just listening to this book, and I was perfectly fine with that. I cannot say enough good about this one nor can I recommend it enough.

Pub day is Tuesday March 21, you must make sure this is on your list. Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ALC and ARC to review.

Well this was such a lovely treat and stunning debut!

We follow Beatrix on her powerful journey from a war torn London to America, to live with the Gregory’s. Told from a significant number of points of views, Spence-Ash did a fantastic job of creating characters that are so multi-dimensional, complex and vibrantly real! I rotated this one between a physical copy and the audiobook and certainly recommend both! 8 POVs could sometimes be confusing on audio but i was able to follow along perfectly!

While a little drawn out at times, this one tells a heartachingly beautiful tale that I’m sure most will enjoy! And bonus points for the fun promo package and blueberry muffin recipe that I can’t wait to try!

A lovely, moving story (made lovelier by the excellent English narrator Ell Potter) about an London girl sent to live with an American family in Maine to protect her from the bombs falling on London during WWII.

Every character is richly and believably drawn: both mothers and fathers have distinct personalities (and voices). They grow jealous of one another and have marital problems as a result of their strong feelings about the girl; the two fathers start playing chess by mail, a theme that carries throughout the story. I loved getting to know each of the brothers the girl moves in with, and especially the girl herself, Beatrix, who is called Bea in America and Trixie back in London.

I'm grateful to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for giving me an advance audio copy of this beautiful, multi-generational novel. I can't believe I used to think I didn't like historical fiction; now I so enjoy it.

Wow. This book was fantastic. Such an emotional, deep read. We follow Bea, a girl from london whose parents send her to America to live with a family until the war is over. She quickly becomes part of this American family and finds herself deeply loved by the two brothers William and Gerald.
While I loved the storyline of this book I found some of the middle to drag out a little bit.
However, this story made me feel all the feels. Love, sadness, hope, and thankfulness. I absolutely loved that the American family took Bea into their family and loved her as their own. The family dynamic in this book is phenomenal. Watching them all grow up separately, Bea moving back to London to live her own life, just to come back together in the end. I don’t think this book could have ended any better. I loved it and I highly recommend!

Beyond That, the Sea is a historical fiction that spans four decades and two continents. Bea is sent to live in America during the second World War and the separation causes a lot of animosity between her parents at home. While away, Bea gets to experience another life but when the wars subsides and it is time to go home, Bea struggles to put the past behind her.

Historical fiction novels are my favorite and I have a huge soft spot for WWII era novels especially, however, the biggest flaw with this book is the multiple POV narrations. Dual timeline is pretty common within the genre, but this went above and beyond that by a mile. I would have liked to see that parsed down with a focus on no more than three characters, at most. I also thought the ending was predictable and left an unfulfilled taste in my mouth.

It's good, but not great and it could have been great.

Beyond that, the sea by Laura Spence-Ash

Beatrix is sent to America during WWII to be kept safe and away from the danger of her London home. Her mother is devastated, her father terrified. This starts the story of Bea and her relationship with her foster family, to be told over decades. You really get to know the characters and see them throughout change, tragedy, love and family. I loved it. It was a sweet coming of age story with the perfect amount of characters to keep the story moving and engaging, but not overwhelming. I think both the Dad’s were my favourites, they offered a unique perspective to Bea growing up that I don’t usually read about.

I think listening to this on audio is what made it enjoyable. It was a beautiful story but slow and long, my least favourite aspects of a book. So I am honestly surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did, I really need to remember this and choose audio for the slow moving character driven novels from now on!

Thank you to @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for my copy!

#macmillanaudio #myaudiobooks #mybooks #audiobooks #listentobooks #netgalley #bookworm #historicalfiction #characterdriven #bookthoughts #bookishthoughts #bookreview #audiobookstagram #audiobookreview #bookrecommendations #canadianbookstagram #bookstagrammer

I was truly blown away by this novel. I always say that I don’t like historical fiction, but then I end up finding HF books that I adore like this one. I listened to this in less than a day because I couldn’t get enough of it.

•••
This beautifully written novel begins in London in 1940, when eleven-year-old Beatrix is sent to America by her working-class parents. Unclear what the war will bring, her parents, particularly her father, want to keep her safe, so going to live with another family in the United States seems like the best option they have. Beatrix arrives in Boston two weeks later, after a tumultuous journey by ship with other children also being sent to safety, and meets Mr. and Mrs. Gregory and their sons William and Gerald who will become her family for the next five years.

Beyond the five years that Beatrix lives with the Gregorys, becoming a true member of their family, and falling in love, the book spans over decades and across oceans going back and forth between the perspectives of eight of the novel’s characters including Beatrix’s family in London and in Boston, in a perfectly melded way. Each character develops uniquely throughout the span of the book - through loneliness and loss, love and longing.

•••
This is Laura Spence-Ash’s debut novel and I will be eagerly awaiting her next book.

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.

A historical fiction read with such strong characters! Beatrix was sent to America to be safe from the war. While she is there, she becomes a part of the Gregory family. Years later she returns to London, and we follow her story into adulthood.

I loved the beginning of this story as B spends her childhood in America. We also get her mother’s POV as she is struggling through those same years without her daughter. B has so many relationships in this story and truly has two families.

Although they are short chapters, I enjoyed seeing how her time in America changed B as she becomes an adult. She may be gone, but she is never forgotten.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Laura Spence-Ash, and publisher for the ARC!

I enjoyed listening to part of this audiobook, however the book kept stopping and cutting out and finally I had to give up. I'll look for the book after it is published, the part I listened to was very enjoyable.

I requested this book after seeing Julia Quinn recommend it on the "Today Show" saying it was like a "warm hug." I needed a warm hug in my life, but I think this was more like a warm hug after several good long ugly cries. The audiobook was riveting. The voice actress/narrator was mesmerizing. The story broke my heart and bandaged it up over and over. I found myself comparing the thoughts and feelings of the characters to my own life several times. It makes you think.

This is the story of Bea, an eleven-year-old British girl who is sent to live with a family in Boston during WWII. Her parents remain in England during the war effort and Bea stays in America for five years and becomes a member of her host family, The Gregorys. She becomes a sister/love interest to the two boys, William and Gerald. Their parents Nancy and Ethan become second parents to her. The book spans many years after Bea goes back home to England following the relationships of these two families through deaths, marriages, love affairs and children.

If you like family drama reads, this is for you. At about 80% through I was despairing of a HEA for Bea. I didn't see the dramatic turn coming, but I suspected the twist from the beginning. I don't want to spoil, but the person who could make us happiest isn't always the one who is obvious. Ugh, man I am emotionally spent. This is going to be at least a weeklong book hangover, but in a good introspective way.

Review: Beyond That, The Sea 🌊

Beyond That, The Sea tells the story of Beatrice, who is sent to live with an American family during WW2. During her five years with them, she falls in love with Mr and Mrs G and their two sons, to the point that she isn’t sure how she will readjust to life back in London once the war is over.

I love a good historical fiction book as much as the next person. This book was VERY heavily character-driven and felt long for me throughout the second half. I’ve gotta say that the love stories were just a little … icky? weird? … for me, so I wasn’t really invested in them. There’s no doubt that Laura Spence-Ash is a talented writer; this book just didn’t hit the mark for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you to the author, Celadon Books and @netgalley for my advanced copies!

This story spans four decades. At eleven years old, Bea is sent to live with a family in America due to the war. She spends several years living with the Gregory family. The longer she lives abroad, the more she feels like it is home. After the war, she returns to London. Over the next few decades, the Gregory family flit in and out of her life. They always seem to find a connection in times of celebration and tragedy.

I didn't love this. I honestly considered DNFing it pretty early on. It is told through the POV of at least eight people (I could be forgetting someone). And since it spans decades, you really never spend enough time with each person. I predicted the ending from the beginning as well. It all comes to just an ok experience for me.

The audiobook is narrated by Ell Potter. I enjoyed her narration, but her accent felt weird at first since half of the POVs are American.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautiful and unforgettable read that showcased what a mother’s love could do. Beatrix “Bea” was sent to America to escape war and bombed filled London during WWII. She moves in with the Gregory family, in Boston, who take her in as their own. Bea is constantly torn between her life in London and her life in America. The Gregory family was amazing, and I wish they were my family. Every character was so well developed, and the writing was lyrical and gorgeous. I felt like I was right along side Bea for her emotional journey. I loved that this story spanned decades and followed up after the war. There were many POV’s in this story, yet it flowed gracefully. This was a magnificent coming-of-age historical fiction read that I highly recommend.

BEYOND THAT, THE SEA will be a book that sticks with me for quite some time. I was a bit hesitant when Celadon first sent this because I’m not the biggest WWII girlie, but this story was not about WWII and the war, per se. The war is why this story exists, but the focal point is the characters and the lives they live.

The format also includes two of my favorite things: multiple POVs and short chapters! Because of this style, it was so easy to get inside each characters head and understand how they’re feeling in that moment with the other characters around. It truly gave me the feeling as if I was a character as well, moving throughout life with them. I was sucked in and this was the quickest historical fiction/family drama story I’ve read in ages.

Since this book is so character driven, there are a lot of themes that evolve over time. They include family relationships, love, how to be your own person, and creating your own happiness. This story had the perfect amount of emotions, ebbing and flowing never allowing me to stay up or down for too long. I highly recommend this one.

Big, big thank you to Celadon for sending me a copy!

Content warnings: infidelity, war, death, car accident, body shaming

I absolutely loved this book! I can only imagine the hard decision to make by giving up your child during the war knowing it will keep them safer than living in the war zone. That’s exactly what happened in this book. Bea, 11 years old at the time, is shipped over seas by her parents to protect her life. She is graciously accepted into the Gregory family where she is the only daughter sandwiched between two boys age wise. At first she isn’t sure how to feel but soon she realizes things seem to be quite a lot more comfortable in the US verses back home. She struggles with her guilty conscious but before you know it, it’s like it was meant to be. After the war, she returns to London and the story unfolds as she lives her life as the Gregory’s continue to come in and out of her life. This book was filled with lots of emotions, broken hearts, love, found family, strong relationship bonds and loss. It was very well written and was another 5 star read!

Beyond That, The Sea is a historical fiction novel that offers the unique perspectives from eight different characters. The story is about a girl named Bea, who was sent to America during World War II in order to stay safe as bombs started to fall in London. She moves in with the Gregorys and quickly learns to love her new life with Ethan, Nancy, William and Gerald. Bea is well taken care of and spends her summers on an island in Maine. After almost five years, Bea is living comfortably and happily when the time comes for her to return to her parents in London. The story spans more than 20 years as Bea continues her life in post-war England while the Gregorys remain in America, each chapter alternating perspectives from Bea's two worlds and the people in them that she loves.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Celadon Books for the advanced physical and audio copies of Beyond That, The Sea. I enjoyed both, but the narrator for the audiobook made this reading experience especially wonderful. I enjoyed the author's writing style and felt that even though the chapters were short and alternated perspectives rather quickly, it was still easy to follow because their stories were so well connected. This book takes place during World War II, but I would consider it just as much of a family drama as a historical fiction novel. Historical events are mentioned, but the story focused more on the families, their love and relationships. My only complaint was that some of the relationships between characters were unexpected. I don't want to say more because I don't want to give anything away, but there were a couple times when I thought, "That was unexpected and maybe a little weird".

If you pick this one up, definitely consider listening to the audio! It was an easy and entertaining listen with a wonderful performance by the narrator. It won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed Beyond That, The Sea!

4.5 stars, beautifully written book

I'm not typically a very big fan of historical fiction, but this book is more of a character driven novel that happens to be set in the past. It has lovely themes of friendship, family, found family, love, and learning what fulfills a person and makes them happy.

This is the tale of Beatrix, who at age eleven is sent by her parents Millie and Reginald from London to live in America during the peak of World War II. She lives with the Gregory family, with the parents and sons William and Gerald. They forge their way to becoming a family of sorts, spending summers in Maine and with Bea finding herself falling for William. Then the war ends and Beatrix moves back to London. Years pass, and they fall in and out of touch, there are marriages, divorces, deaths, births, and so much life lived on opposite sides of the ocean.

This is a beautifully resonant book. It's wistful, sometimes sad, sometimes hopeful. There are so many relationships and I found myself able to relate to the characters, even the ones who weren't just like me. The longing, the growing and changing, those emotions are so universal and each reader will see something of themselves in the characters and their life journeys.

I partially listened to this as an audiobook and partially read it on the page, and the narrator of the audiobook is superb. She is a wonderful voice for Bea, but also does justice to the other characters and their accents as well. Either medium is an excellent way to experience this book.