Cover Image: Beyond the Arch

Beyond the Arch

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Member Reviews

This was a provocative read exploring many of the streams in life which make us tick. So many people are moulded and restrained by their surroundings and their upbringing. Here we experience Peter Bowman as he attempts to break free from society's shackles and leave it all behind in order to fulfil a life long dream of writing a novel. While desire and will are compulsory is it possible to every be capable of leaving it all behind.
This was an interesting, thought provoking read which held my interest and posed many questions for me.

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One thing is certain about this book; it's a true life depiction of what most people hail as success. The career consistency and being literate are some of the strong themes that I resonated with while reading this book.
Peter's been married to Ann. They each have thriving careers and he's a Solicitor who's always yearned to write, but the fear of being thought of as foolish by his colleagues and family had him shy away from it. Events unfold in the story and suddenly he finds himself doing things as his wife would call "foolish" or "on a whim" and you cannot help but spiral with him as a reader.
I struggled with the pace, mostly because the air that the characters give in the story as being well educated and posh.
What doesn't help the pace are the words too, for example "The inconsequential discussion flowed back and forth haphazardly as he attempted unsuccessfully..." and the sentence has more words before getting to the full stop.
This book requires utmost reader patience and it's one you can take your time to enjoy because we all have asked ourselves if the path we've taken in life is the right one.
Thank you for the eARC NetGalley. Fans of literary fiction could find themselves discussing this in a serious book club meeting!

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started of as a bit of a slow read for me,but got intrigued as the story progresses,the relationship within family members,and spouses,dealing with love and death,be it of a loved one,or a close friend,the true support and rapport they have with each other,the courage to make a change.loved the book after the first few pages

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