What a terrific new book! Beyond That, The Sea by Laura Spence-Ash draws the reader into the story from the start. Written in third person it was a new experience for this reader. The dialogue was in italics included in the narrators telling of the story. Once I recognized the method, the story came alive.
WWII is looming, England is being bombed, and parents are worried about their children. A program becomes available to send the children out of the city of London, some to the country to live with family or sponsors, others have the opportunity to go to America to live with a family. Reginald and Millie arrange for Beatrix to sail to America to live with a family in Boston.
What a terrifying experience for a young girl. She does not know the family and she has never been away from home. The narrator takes us into the minds and actions of seven main characters and how this experience changes everyone.
I highly recommend this historical fiction account of what happened to many during the war, but it does not highlight the devastation and destruction that so many WWII books dwell on. This is more of a look at ordinary people and how the was affected their lives.
WWII is looming, England is being bombed, and parents are worried about their children. A program becomes available to send the children out of the city of London, some to the country to live with family or sponsors, others have the opportunity to go to America to live with a family. Reginald and Millie arrange for Beatrix to sail to America to live with a family in Boston.
What a terrifying experience for a young girl. She does not know the family and she has never been away from home. The narrator takes us into the minds and actions of seven main characters and how this experience changes everyone.
I highly recommend this historical fiction account of what happened to many during the war, but it does not highlight the devastation and destruction that so many WWII books dwell on. This is more of a look at ordinary people and how the was affected their lives.