beyond that, the sea by Laura Spence-Ash

There is heart and soul in this beautiful novel by Laura Spence-Ash. Her writing is layered with astute reflections about familial love, conflicting loyalties, time passing, and the long road to understanding and forgiveness. The writing is warm and intimate, and there is no violence or treachery. As of April 2024, this is my favorite book of the year.

In 1940, when the German bombing of London became acute, Reg and Millie Thompson sent their only child, Beatrix, to America to keep her safe. After a two-week boat ride to Boston, an angry and frightened 11-year-old Beatrix meets Ethan and Nancy Gregory and their two sons, William and Gerald. She is warmly welcomed, assigned her own room and spends five formative summers with her new family on their private island in Maine. Nancy Gregory bathed her gently when she arrived. Ethan Gregory taught her to swim. William and Gerald seamlessly included her in their adventures. Her initial fear and loneliness gave way to feelings of comfort and inclusion. The Gregory’s come to love Beatrix, whom they now call Bea, and she comes to love them. Her life is changed forever, as is theirs.

Bea's parents hoped their daughter would be safe and happy and far from the danger in London. "They sent her away so she could have a childhood. They hadn't realized, though, that their decision meant that her childhood would, instead, be taken away from them." When the war ends, Bea is back on a boat to London. She doesn't want to return and would rather stay in this happy home with people who pay close attention to her needs. After five years away from London, Bea’s American family's warmth and emotional habits comfort her.

But to her London home, Bea returns.

Each of the Gregory family members feels Beatrix's absence. They leave her bedroom intact. After the war, the Gregory family members send Bea letters, and William visits Bea in London. As they move through their twenties and thirties, both sons miss Bea and struggle to find peace in their adult relationships. Meanwhile, Bea is angry with her mother and strives to establish her life in London as an adult. The war years were a formative and life-changing experience for Beatrix, her parents and the Gregory family. Each of these eight characters shares the narration, a testament to Spence-Ash's writing skills.

Gentle and warm, Spence-Ash combines descriptions of daily activities with an emotional log. The story is told over decades and illuminates the evolving bond between Bea and the Gregory’s, (especially the two sons) and the expanding distance between Bea and her parents. The past persistently hovers in each character's thoughts as they wrestle with their complicated and conflicted feelings. The novel reads like the journals of these eight characters as they each sort out their feelings about that monumental and influential time in their lives. This quiet novel is filled with grace. 5/5