Longlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize 2019A strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War in 1916 and a young woman living in modern-day England a century later, in this haunting literary time travel novel.Two people, two battles: one against the invading Germans on the battlefields of 1916 France, the other against a substandard, uncaring mental health facility … substandard, uncaring mental health facility in modern-day England. Part war story, part timeslip, part love story – and at the same time a meditation on the themes of war, mental illness, identity and art, Beyond The Moon is an intelligent, captivating debut novel, perfect for book clubs.
“Historical fantasy at its very best.” — Historical Novel Society”
Shortlisted for the Eharmony/Orion Love Story Prize 2019
“Taylor’s accomplished, genre-bending book succeeds as a WW1 historical novel and a beguiling, time travel love story… The sharply written narrative deftly moves back and forth between the past and present.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An unflinching portrait of the horrors of war, and a look at the torturous extremes a human soul can endure. It is a sonnet to the transformative power of love, even as it is also a criticism of the futility and pointless destructiveness of war.” — Shaylin Gandhi, author of By The Light of Embers
In 1916 1st Lieutenant Robert Lovett is a patient at Coldbrook Hall military hospital in Sussex, England. A gifted artist, he’s been wounded fighting in the Great War. Shell shocked and suffering from hysterical blindness he can no longer see his own face, let alone paint, and life seems increasingly hopeless.
A century later in 2017, medical student Louisa Casson has just lost her beloved grandmother – her only family. Heartbroken, she drowns her sorrows in alcohol on the South Downs cliffs – only to fall accidentally part-way down. Doctors fear she may have attempted suicide, and Louisa finds herself involuntarily admitted to Coldbrook Hall – now a psychiatric hospital, an unfriendly and chaotic place.
Then one day, while secretly exploring the old Victorian hospital’s ruined, abandoned wing, Louisa hears a voice calling for help, and stumbles across a dark, old-fashioned hospital room. Inside, lying on the floor, is a mysterious, sightless young man, who tells her he was hurt at the Battle of the Somme, a WW1 battle a century ago. And that his name is Lieutenant Robert Lovett…
For fans of Kate Quinn, Sebastian Faulks, Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follett, Beatriz Williams, Kristin Hannah, Susanna Kearsley and Paullina Simons.
*NB Contains graphic descriptions of war violence and injuries, as well as profanity and mild sex.
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A time travel romance novel. I really enjoyed this. A large portion of the book takes place during world war one and the author really makes you feel the futility of the war. The trenches were really horrible. There are initially two stories take place which later merge into one story. One story is in modern time involving Louisa who is institutionalized because the doctors have decided she tried to commit suicide. Louisa did not try to hurt herself but once in an institution it’s very difficult to get released. Robert is fighting in the trenches of France during world war one. Robert is injured and is healing at a hospital. Louisa stumbles upon Robert and. The two begin to have a relationship. Naturally being from two different time periods causes quite a few problems. The story ends well and there is no cliffhanger. A very interesting and entertaining read.
A debut novel featuring a young woman grief-stricken and alone in 2017 and mistakenly committed to a mental hospital who, in an abandoned wing, meets a young injured WWI soldier from 1917. This is a reincarnation story of two lost souls, who through overwhelming odds find each other during a tumultuous time in history.
I enjoyed this story. The section featuring nursing during WWI reminded me a bit of the Bess Crawford series. My only complaint is that it wrapped up rather quickly, and I would have liked more of an epilogue.
Thanks to #CameoPress and #NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
I received a free electronic copy of this time-traveling novel from Netgalley, BookSirens, Catherine Taylor, and Cameo Press Ltd. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Beyond the Moon of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.
Beyond the Moon is an exciting tale covering two periods of time. The transitions are done very well and you are instantly aware of whether you are in 2017 in Coldbrook Mental Hospital in England or in France at the same location, Coldbrook Hall, in 1916, or in several places in France, for the most part Number 16 Military Hospital, Amiens, France, again in either time frame. Fortunately, Catherine Taylor explains this better than I can – it is a very easy read, with your mind doing all the time flipping through her excellent prose.
The protagonists are well defined, pleasantly so except for those very few very bad ones, and the settings are also easily pictured. There are no great splashing mysteries, just those joys, those sorrows of people separated by hardship and war and the uncertainties of Europe during The Great War. The history is handled very well, times and locations are well presented. Beyond the Moon: A Haunting Novel of Time Travel and WW1 was an altogether satisfying read. I am pleased to recommend this novel to my friends and family.
A poignant story that brings two people together with a love that can’t be denied as one soul is pulled across the fabric of time towards its mate. Louisa just lost everything in the present that matters to her and feels herself adrift, but when she heard Robert calling out in the darkness suddenly everything makes sense. Only Robert is calling out to her from over 100 years in the past. These two are drawn together by a love that is woven through and hardship. Set during WWI, each of them fights to make their way through the horrors of the way and to each other.
** I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. **
Timeless love story, starts slow, Keep reading ! Beautiful love transcends time1917/2017…
A Grueling Stand-Alone Saga
When I read the synopsis of Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor, I was truly anxious to read it. The first chapter immediately pulled me in, but midway through the second chapter I realized that this book was going to be a difficult one to finish. Not because of any of the technical elements such as the writing, editing, plot or characters. No. For me, it was the subject matter that weighed heavily on my emotions, which is why I had to put it down occasionally before continuing with the story.
The setting is 2017 Sussex, England and 1916-17 England and France during WWI. The primary characters are Louisa Casson, a grieving young woman and Lt. Robert Lovett, a soldier and artist. The challenges that Robert and Louisa will both define and test them to the breaking point. Throughout their story, a paranormal element makes their happy ending possible, even when it seems improbable. I only wish the author had written an epilogue, which would have made the ending more satisfying.
Content alert: language, mildly described sex, explicit war violence and institutional violence.
Disclosure: I received this book for free from BookSirens. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.
I love time travel books! At times I the found the war chapters alittle drawn out and boring. I would have liked maybe more at the end. Overall I enjoyed it! Thanks to Netgalley for the copy
I got quite caught up in Beyond the Moon. It is a time slip/reincarnation/romance story that bounces between the Great War and present time. Two people from two different times meet in a hospital wing that is active in WW1 and abandoned in present time. The big question is will they be able to connect and stay together? I was totally pulled in to this story, hoping for the best.
Romance isn’t my usual reading fare. But I decided to give this one a chance because of the time-travel element (a current research interest) and the historical time period. World War I has always interested me because it was such a game-changer in warfare.
The book is beautifully written. It shifts between the past, when Robert fights in the war and recovers from his injuries, and the present, when Louisa fights to maintain her sanity in a psychiatric hospital. Overall, I found the historical parts more compelling than the present day ones.
Here’s what I enjoyed.
1. Excellent portrayal of World War I
Taylor’s words capture the horrors of trench warfare. Rats eating bloated corpses. Trench foot. Fear of a gas attack. Filthy, half-starved soldiers, weary of war, uncertain what they are fighting for anymore. Leaders writing merciful lies to victims’ families–a sniper, one shot through the head, your son died immediately– though the dead often die in agony. And back home in Britain, the powerful men who, from the safety of their own offices, are ordering more men into the battlefields. Taylor takes us there, into the trenches and makes us experience it along with Robert.
2. Interesting insights into WWI-era medicine
Doctors tell Robert that his shell shock is the “result of a shell exploding too close to the head, causing lesions. ‘An invisibly fine molecular commotion in the brain'” (chapter 10). A hundred years later, our understanding of this has changed. It’s fascinating to read and compare the differences in medical knowledge.
When Louisa accidentally ends up in 1917, people mistake her for Rose Ashby, a VAD nurse in a hospital in France. The nurses and doctors do their best. But the young men brought in from the nearby battlefield are often too wounded to survive. Things that are routine now–blood transfusions, chest compressions, antibiotics–were either experimental or completely unavailable.
3. Louisa and Robert’s first encounter
It takes a while to get to the romantic leads’ first meeting. Robert is calling for help, and Louisa can’t turn away from any injured person, even if they are unseen. Even when she knows she’ll be in trouble with the psychiatric hospital staff for being in an off-limits part of the building, her instinct is to help. And so she goes to Robert.
Both are drawn to one another. Obviously! But it’s not just a physical attraction. It’s a feeling of kinship: they are both unhappy, fearful, and lonely. They fill a need in each other’s life. It’s lovely to see them fall in love, even when being together seems impossible.
4. Interesting minor characters
Robert’s best friend is a conscientious objector/painter named Edgar. He’s a fascinating person. I was also intrigued by the various ways the author uses Marisa, Flora, and Kerry, women that Louisa grows to care about.
There are a few weaker areas, though.
It took me a while to warm up to Louisa. While her depression is understandable, she seems purposeless, like she is drifting through despair. Her backstory about her troubled teenage years and abandonment felt underdeveloped, too. Once she meets Robert and her compassionate side reawakens, I started to like and root for her.
Also, I never quite bought the medical rationale for admitting Louisa into a psychiatric hospital against her will. The doctors are insistent that she’s suicidal, though she knows better, but their evidence is circumstantial. (Where I live in the U.S., the process is also more legally complicated and not entirely up to the doctors.)
I also never understood how the visiting psychiatrists to Coldbrook Hall Hospital don’t see how cruel the head nurse is nor how the hospital’s “care” isn’t helping the patients at all. They seem oblivious. Other than the medications, the hospital seems more Victorian than 21st century, and certainly doesn’t reflect recent reforms in psychiatric care.
Overall, this is a strong novel.
If you like historical romance, you might enjoy this. I’ve read it compared to the novels of Diana Gabaldon and Kate Morton. While I haven’t read Gabaldon, I think Beyond the Moon is a good fit for Kate Morton fans.
Thanks again to NetGalley and AuthorBuzz for the opportunity to read Beyond the Moon in exchange for an honest review.
A wonderful historical/time travel novel! Louisa was in Coldbrook, a mental hospital. She finds a portal to 1917 through a condemned wing of the hospital. She meets Robert a soldier in France and becomes Rose, a nurse. They fall in love. Very moving and interesting book. Complex and interesting characters and events. I truly loved this book.
A WWI Romance with a Twist
I loved this book it was very good.
Cassie’s story tells of her being placed in Coldbrook, a privately ran mental hospital. She talks of the horrible conditions and the uncaring staff. It is a sad part. You can sympathize with the patients and wonder how such things could actually happen in the year 2017.
Cassie finds a portal to 1917 through a condemned wing of the hospital where she meets Robert an injured Soldier and they fall in love. After Cassie falls through the floor into 1917 she becomes Rose, A VAD nurse at a British Field hospital in France. She describes in great detail the sad conditions in the hospital. Shortage of Staff, Supplies and equipment. The horrible injuries to the soldiers and the deaths. It is so realistic you feel as if you are actually there. Quite sad.
You have Robert’s story. He tells of his injury and when Cassie visits through the portal he falls in love with her. Then he goes back to his unit in France to fight in the war. While fighting in the trenches on the heels of the German Army he is captured and taken to a German P.O.W. camp.
Robert’s part of the story tells of the front lines, the trenches, the injuries and the death of his fellow soldiers. He tells of his inner feelings. It is a very good depiction of the fighting soldier’s life on the front lines. After he is captured by the German’s he details what it is like to live as a prisoner in a German POW camp. It is also written in such a realistic manner that you feel as if you are there with Robert.
I love the characters, I love the story line and the ending is fantastic. If you want to find out how it all came about, if Robert survives the POW camp, if Rose and Robert ever get together again, than you will have to read the book. Warning….Once you pick up this book and start reading you will not want to stop until you are finished.
Sadly for me this book just wasnt upto my expectations. I had a hard time reading it, I realize not everyone enjoy the same books. I would find it hard to recommend this book to others.
This was a brilliant, heartwarming, time travel adventure about WWI, second chances, mental health, trusting the heart, hope, despair, friendship, and love. The only similarity it had with Outlander was the idea of a war nurse, and in fact, I think this was much better than Outlander, even though I enjoyed the first book in that series too. I highly recommend this story, and can’t wait to read more by this author.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.