BEYOND THE MOON by Catherine Taylor
✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic
In the year 2017, Louisa Casson finds herself
in a rather perplexing situation in Beyond The Moon by Catherine Taylor. Through a series of unfortunate events,
she finds herself getting drunk on a long saved and cherished bottle of brandy
along the cliffs near her recently departed grandmother's home. After her
mother's early death, she is then pawned off on her grandmother by her father
who chose to instead spend his life with his new girlfriend instead of living
with Louisa. After years of being raised by her grandmother, Louisa then ends
up caring for her grandmother in later years as the cycle of life turns.
As she drinks herself into oblivion, a cold
and rainy blinding fog sets in and Louisa struggles to find her way back.
Meanwhile, the cliff collapses and falls towards the ocean. Somehow Louisa
manages to hold on and only falls part of the way though, between the drink and
the fall, she is knocked out cold. Once rescued, it is believed that this was a
suicide attempt on Louisa's part and is admitted to Coldbrook Hall psychiatric
hospital in Sussex, England. Coldbrook Hall is now a miserable for profit
institution that offers only the minimum of care but was, at one time,
Coldbrook Hall military convalescent hospital, back in 1916 during WWl, which
was a much nicer place. The original building was a beautiful facility with
nice grounds for the patients to go out for some fresh air. Much of the story
takes place within these confines during both periods of time.
Though Louisa was not suicidal, no amount of
reasoning will convince the authorities otherwise; hence, Louisa is, more or
less, being held captive with no family to speak up for her and vouch for her
sanity. Having no other option, she learns how to cope and maneuver her way
around with help from Kerry, a schizophrenic patient whom she befriends, who
gives her tips on survival while incarcerated.
Kerry shows Louisa a secret passage to a closed
off part of the hospital that they wander off to during smoking breaks. During
such an excursion, Louisa takes her own little tour of the building only to
find herself entering a room where Lieutenant Robert Lovett, an injured
soldier, is in need of help. If being committed to a psychiatric institution
isn't enough adventure for you, this room is where Louisa drops down the rabbit
hole, so to speak, as she finds herself in the year 1916.
It takes a little while for Louisa to figure
out what's going on but finds that she is captivated by Robert which has her
continuing her visits between time periods. Between the planned demolition of
the blocked off wing and Robert's commitment to the war effort, we see the
couple develop an amorous love obsession while trying to find each other around
extreme circumstances that keeps them apart.
Taylor writes about many of the horrendous
conditions Robert is exposed to involving putrid body parts, rats, mud and
exposure to the elements. In some ways, it was reminiscent of David Halbertam's
book One Very Hot Day which details a
day in the life of a soldier in Vietnam. Neither are for the squeamish! The same can be
said of when Louisa ventures back in time to live the life of Rose Ashby as a
VAD (a volunteer nurse's aide) for the war effort while searching for Robert.
Jumping time periods, as well as telling the
story from the point of view of each of their lives, can be quite confusing,
but Taylor does a fine job at keeping everything straight and in perspective. I
never got lost or confused as to what was going on or where we were at any
given time.
Ultimately, this was much more a love story
than some sort of sci-fi or paranormal novel, though could easily appeal to those
with an interest in those areas. The book is fairly lengthy but, with that
said, I still would have enjoyed a little more story. In fact, my only
complaint is at the very end with how the author chooses to leave Robert and
Louisa. Not the inclusion of what was written but that I would have appreciated
at least a few lines or so about how they went on to live their lives. Not much
but just a little taste of what they eventually did with this extra time given
them. This was an enjoyable story that had my attention through the entire book
and would easily recommend to those who like such books. Would also make for a
good movie that, if done well, would appeal to a mixed audience with its
blending of both love and war. Hopefully, we'll get to see that one day.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Historical Fiction
Romance
eBook, 496 pages
ASIN: B07TQMTTPY
Publisher: The Cameo Press Ltd
Release Date: June 25, 2019
