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Land Beyond the Sea
**CANADA BOOK AWARD WINNER** **NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS FINALIST, HISTORICAL FICTION** **BEST ATLANTIC-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARD FINALIST**
In the small hours of October 14, 1942, a German U-boat sank the passenger ferry SS Caribou in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Of the 237 people on board, 136 perished, including 49 civilians. In Land Beyond the Sea , bestselling author Kevin Major reimagines the events of that fateful night from the perspectives of both those aboard the doomed vessel and the German U-boat commander who gave the order. With his characteristically sharp, evocative prose style, Major delivers an epic work of historical fiction, detailing a life-and-death conflict in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Land Beyond the Sea is a powerful and empathetic testament to the acts of destruction and the acts of heroism carried out in the name of home.
In the small hours of October 14, 1942, a German U-boat sank the passenger ferry SS Caribou in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Of the 237 people on board, 136 perished, including 49 civilians. In Land Beyond the Sea , bestselling author Kevin Major reimagines the events of that fateful night from the perspectives of both those aboard the doomed vessel and the German U-boat commander who gave the order. With his characteristically sharp, evocative prose style, Major delivers an epic work of historical fiction, detailing a life-and-death conflict in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Land Beyond the Sea is a powerful and empathetic testament to the acts of destruction and the acts of heroism carried out in the name of home.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
272 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2019
2 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Major
30 books39 followersKevin Major is the author of 20 books, for both young people and adults. The first, Hold Fast, won several awards in Canada and was placed on the Hans Christian Andersen Honour List. It was released in 2014 as a feature film. His second book, Far From Shore, was the winner of the first Canadian Young Adult Book Award. Others which followed include Blood Red Ochre and Eating Between the Lines, winner of the CACL Book-of-the-Year Award.
In 1992 Kevin was given the Vicky Metcalf Award, for an outstanding body of work of significance to young people. The languages into which his work has been translated include French, Danish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.
An adult novel, No Man’s Land, about the Newfoundland Regiment in World War I, was published in 1995 to much acclaim. Kevin’s adaption of the story was brought to the stage by Rising Tide Theatre and has played for more than a dozen years.
His more recent books include the Christmas classic The House of Wooden Santas, and a history of Newfoundland and Labrador: As Near To Heaven By Sea (a Canadian best-seller and finalist for the Pearson Non-Fiction Prize). Ann and Seamus, a verse novel released in 2003 was shortlisted for a total of ten awards. It has since been turned into an opera. The adult novel New Under the Sun was published in 2010, book one of a trilogy of historical fiction. The second, Found Far and Wide, was released in 2016, and the third, Land Beyond the Sea, in 2019.
In 2018 Kevin started a projected serious of crime novels with One for the Rock. He anticipates the second will arrive in bookstores in the fall of 2020.
Kevin has been named Memorial University’s Alumnus-of-the-Year, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Artist-of-the-Year .
John Moss, writing in “A Reader’s Guide to the Canadian Novel,” has said, “Kevin Major is among the best Canadian writers of his generation. He has established himself as a figure of singular importance in our literature.”
He lives in St. John’s, NL with his wife Anne. They have two grown sons.
In 1992 Kevin was given the Vicky Metcalf Award, for an outstanding body of work of significance to young people. The languages into which his work has been translated include French, Danish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.
An adult novel, No Man’s Land, about the Newfoundland Regiment in World War I, was published in 1995 to much acclaim. Kevin’s adaption of the story was brought to the stage by Rising Tide Theatre and has played for more than a dozen years.
His more recent books include the Christmas classic The House of Wooden Santas, and a history of Newfoundland and Labrador: As Near To Heaven By Sea (a Canadian best-seller and finalist for the Pearson Non-Fiction Prize). Ann and Seamus, a verse novel released in 2003 was shortlisted for a total of ten awards. It has since been turned into an opera. The adult novel New Under the Sun was published in 2010, book one of a trilogy of historical fiction. The second, Found Far and Wide, was released in 2016, and the third, Land Beyond the Sea, in 2019.
In 2018 Kevin started a projected serious of crime novels with One for the Rock. He anticipates the second will arrive in bookstores in the fall of 2020.
Kevin has been named Memorial University’s Alumnus-of-the-Year, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Artist-of-the-Year .
John Moss, writing in “A Reader’s Guide to the Canadian Novel,” has said, “Kevin Major is among the best Canadian writers of his generation. He has established himself as a figure of singular importance in our literature.”
He lives in St. John’s, NL with his wife Anne. They have two grown sons.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 20, 2020
„Caribou“, so der deutsche Titel (im Original „Land Beyond the Sea), ist der Abschlussband einer Trilogie, in der sich der Autor Kevin Major mit der Historie seines Heimatlands beschäftigt.
Die Caribou ist ein Fährschiff, das in der Cabotstraße zwischen Neufundland und Nova Scotia auf kanadischer Seite nicht nur Fracht für die Eisenbahngesellschaft sondern auch Passagiere transportiert, neben Zivilisten in den Zeiten des Zweiten Weltkriegs natürlich auf Militärangehörige. Am 14.10.42 kreuzt es den Weg des deutschen U-Boots U 69 und wird von diesem ohne Zögern torpediert. Die Fähre sinkt und mit ihr verlieren 137 Menschen ihr Leben, darunter viele Frauen und Kinder. 100 Passagiere/Besatzungsmitglieder überleben.
Dieses reale historische Ereignis beschreibt Kevin Major in dem Roman, wobei er seinen Blick im Detail zum einen auf den deutschen U-Boot Kommandanten Ulrich Gräf, zum anderen auf den Schiffssteward John Gilbert als Stellvertreter für die Überlebenden richtet. Romantisierende Beschreibungen sucht man glücklicherweise vergebens, die Schilderungen sind eher in einem knappen, realitätsnahen Reportage-Stil gehalten, was allerdings den Zugang nicht nur zu den Protagonisten sondern auch zu diesem tragischen Ereignis erschwert. Hier hätte ich mir mehr Empathie seitens des Autors gewünscht, denn so schaut man distanziert und emotionslos auf den Untergang des Fährschiffes und darauf, welche Auswirkungen er hat.
Der Roman gliedert sich in vier Teile: Im ersten Abschnitt lernen wir Gräf und die Besatzung des U-Bootes sowie einzelne Besatzungsmitglieder und Passagiere der Caribou kennen, dann folgt die Torpedierung und der Überlebenskampf in den Fluten, danach begleiten wir über einen eingeschränkten Zeitraum den Kommandanten des U-Boots Ulrich Gräf und den ehemaligen Schiffsteward und Überlebenden der Caribou John Gilbert, als Abschluss dann die Bombardierung Dresdens durch die amerikanische Luftwaffe.
Für Gräf geht das Leben weiter. Weitgehend unreflektiert. Er stellt weder den Sinn des Krieges noch seine Einsätze in Frage. Selbst dann nicht, als er bei dem Heimaturlaub in Dresden auf dem Bahnhof einen Deportationszug nach Theresienstadt beobachtet. Nur interessiert an seinen Erfolgen in Form der BruttoRegisterTonnen. Gilbert hingegen ist von dem Wunsch nach Vergeltung, nach Rache für die Caribou und die Opfer regelrecht besessen. Und die wird er bekommen.
Die Caribou ist ein Fährschiff, das in der Cabotstraße zwischen Neufundland und Nova Scotia auf kanadischer Seite nicht nur Fracht für die Eisenbahngesellschaft sondern auch Passagiere transportiert, neben Zivilisten in den Zeiten des Zweiten Weltkriegs natürlich auf Militärangehörige. Am 14.10.42 kreuzt es den Weg des deutschen U-Boots U 69 und wird von diesem ohne Zögern torpediert. Die Fähre sinkt und mit ihr verlieren 137 Menschen ihr Leben, darunter viele Frauen und Kinder. 100 Passagiere/Besatzungsmitglieder überleben.
Dieses reale historische Ereignis beschreibt Kevin Major in dem Roman, wobei er seinen Blick im Detail zum einen auf den deutschen U-Boot Kommandanten Ulrich Gräf, zum anderen auf den Schiffssteward John Gilbert als Stellvertreter für die Überlebenden richtet. Romantisierende Beschreibungen sucht man glücklicherweise vergebens, die Schilderungen sind eher in einem knappen, realitätsnahen Reportage-Stil gehalten, was allerdings den Zugang nicht nur zu den Protagonisten sondern auch zu diesem tragischen Ereignis erschwert. Hier hätte ich mir mehr Empathie seitens des Autors gewünscht, denn so schaut man distanziert und emotionslos auf den Untergang des Fährschiffes und darauf, welche Auswirkungen er hat.
Der Roman gliedert sich in vier Teile: Im ersten Abschnitt lernen wir Gräf und die Besatzung des U-Bootes sowie einzelne Besatzungsmitglieder und Passagiere der Caribou kennen, dann folgt die Torpedierung und der Überlebenskampf in den Fluten, danach begleiten wir über einen eingeschränkten Zeitraum den Kommandanten des U-Boots Ulrich Gräf und den ehemaligen Schiffsteward und Überlebenden der Caribou John Gilbert, als Abschluss dann die Bombardierung Dresdens durch die amerikanische Luftwaffe.
Für Gräf geht das Leben weiter. Weitgehend unreflektiert. Er stellt weder den Sinn des Krieges noch seine Einsätze in Frage. Selbst dann nicht, als er bei dem Heimaturlaub in Dresden auf dem Bahnhof einen Deportationszug nach Theresienstadt beobachtet. Nur interessiert an seinen Erfolgen in Form der BruttoRegisterTonnen. Gilbert hingegen ist von dem Wunsch nach Vergeltung, nach Rache für die Caribou und die Opfer regelrecht besessen. Und die wird er bekommen.
June 1, 2019
A spectacular follow-up to Found Far and Wide. Historical fiction at its best. This is the final installment in the Newfoundland Trilogy.
February 27, 2021
As in war there are long stretches when nothing much happens (which at times tried my patience as a reader), but when something does happen, wow.
September 14, 2022
More like 2.5 stars.
September 12, 2019
See my column below:
BOOK ReMARKS: Land Beyond the Sea
It’s one of those things, like where were you when you heard about JFK’s assassination? Or, in this century, where were you when you heard about the planes and the Towers? Those of us who grew up in the 1950s — of us born in few years between the end of the Second World War and when Confederation pupped — remember when we first heard about the sinking of the Caribou.
I was sitting at the side of Granny’s kitchen table looking at the picture hung on the wall opposite me. That picture — the iconic picture of the SS Caribou with portraits of the crew bordering the steamship in center — has remained in my mind.
“That’s the Caribou, my son. The Germans blowed her up with a torpedo in the war,” Granny said.
Kevin Major was at Minette’s house and he has listed her as one of the three people to whom he has dedicated his new book — Land Beyond the Sea [Breakwater Books], a story about the sinking of the Caribou.
When she became the target of U-boat 69, the Caribou was essentially a passenger ferry sailing regularly between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, essentially a vessel, "caught in the vagaries of war.”
Land Beyond the Sea is historical fiction at its home-grown best. It’s a local story although not as widely known a some of the “greater” tragedies on the scale of the Titanic’s sinking, for instance. Kevin Major’s book, however, has re-floated the Caribou, allowing her to be spotted in contemporary searchlight beams.
And rightly so, eh b’ys?
Two books came to my mind as I read Land Beyond the Sea. The first book was Cassie Brown’s Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914 [1972]. My thought was this: “Kevin Major is doing for the Caribou tragedy what Cassie Brown did for the Newfoundland disaster” — focusing on the individuals involved and, thereby, making the story believably personal for his readers.
The second book was John Steinbeck’s The Moon is Down [1942], a WWII story set in occupied France.
As an aside, notice — especially if this kind of information gives you the shivers — that Steinbeck’s novel was published in March of 1942, merely six months or so before the actual sinking of the Caribou.
It’s easy to understand why Death on the Ice came to my mind, I s’pose — both it and Land Beyond the Sea are Newfoundland tragedies, albeit of a different ilk.
But why The Moon is Down?
Here’s why.
The Moon is Down is told from the point of view of a German officer, at publication time an unpopular perspective among many of Steinbeck’s readers.
Interestingly, Kevin Major uses first-person point-of-view narration for only one of the characters in Land Beyond the Sea — Ulrich Gräf, captain of U-boat 69.
And, get this, Gräf’s thoughts when he sees the coast of Newfoundland: “Newfoundland on a rough day is magnificent, its lofty cliffs indomitable, the surf capable of no more than playing at its feet.”
Shortly afterwards, this German commander who admires Newfoundland’s rugged splendor, and believing what he is about to do to the Caribou is “neither right nor wrong”, issues a decisive, deadly command: “Permission to fire!”
Something to think about, eh b’ys?
Incidentally, the surf “no more than playing” at the feet of Newfoundland’s cliffs is gem-dandiest image in this book.
And another thing — history allows us to call the Germans sons-a-bitches Bad Guys of WWII. As a Caribou survivor aboard a lifeboat says: “There’s a war on. The Germans don’t give a good goddamn about children.”
I eventually thought of a third book — Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel about his being a prisoner of war in Dresden when the allies carpet-bombed that German city in 1945, igniting a firestorm that burned everything, and everyone in its path, including babes in arms.
Also, get this — my thoughts weren’t far from Kevin Major’s.
At the end of Land Beyond the Sea, Hank Scheller, a Caribou survivor, is bombardier aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress, when, over the course of ten minutes, “…771 tons of hellfire descend from the skies over Dresden.”
B’ys!
Just now, I’ve thought of a Woody Guthrie song — “The Sinking of the Reuben James”, a song about a convoy escort, the first US naval ship sunk by German U-boats in WWII.
“Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?” Guthrie asks.
I suggest Land Beyond the Sea asks a similar question: Did you have a friend, or kin — no matter how distant — on the Caribou?
Thank you for reading.
Harold Walters lives in Dunville, Newfoundland, doing his damnedest to live Happily Ever After. Reach him at ghwalters663@gmail.com.
BOOK ReMARKS: Land Beyond the Sea
It’s one of those things, like where were you when you heard about JFK’s assassination? Or, in this century, where were you when you heard about the planes and the Towers? Those of us who grew up in the 1950s — of us born in few years between the end of the Second World War and when Confederation pupped — remember when we first heard about the sinking of the Caribou.
I was sitting at the side of Granny’s kitchen table looking at the picture hung on the wall opposite me. That picture — the iconic picture of the SS Caribou with portraits of the crew bordering the steamship in center — has remained in my mind.
“That’s the Caribou, my son. The Germans blowed her up with a torpedo in the war,” Granny said.
Kevin Major was at Minette’s house and he has listed her as one of the three people to whom he has dedicated his new book — Land Beyond the Sea [Breakwater Books], a story about the sinking of the Caribou.
When she became the target of U-boat 69, the Caribou was essentially a passenger ferry sailing regularly between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, essentially a vessel, "caught in the vagaries of war.”
Land Beyond the Sea is historical fiction at its home-grown best. It’s a local story although not as widely known a some of the “greater” tragedies on the scale of the Titanic’s sinking, for instance. Kevin Major’s book, however, has re-floated the Caribou, allowing her to be spotted in contemporary searchlight beams.
And rightly so, eh b’ys?
Two books came to my mind as I read Land Beyond the Sea. The first book was Cassie Brown’s Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914 [1972]. My thought was this: “Kevin Major is doing for the Caribou tragedy what Cassie Brown did for the Newfoundland disaster” — focusing on the individuals involved and, thereby, making the story believably personal for his readers.
The second book was John Steinbeck’s The Moon is Down [1942], a WWII story set in occupied France.
As an aside, notice — especially if this kind of information gives you the shivers — that Steinbeck’s novel was published in March of 1942, merely six months or so before the actual sinking of the Caribou.
It’s easy to understand why Death on the Ice came to my mind, I s’pose — both it and Land Beyond the Sea are Newfoundland tragedies, albeit of a different ilk.
But why The Moon is Down?
Here’s why.
The Moon is Down is told from the point of view of a German officer, at publication time an unpopular perspective among many of Steinbeck’s readers.
Interestingly, Kevin Major uses first-person point-of-view narration for only one of the characters in Land Beyond the Sea — Ulrich Gräf, captain of U-boat 69.
And, get this, Gräf’s thoughts when he sees the coast of Newfoundland: “Newfoundland on a rough day is magnificent, its lofty cliffs indomitable, the surf capable of no more than playing at its feet.”
Shortly afterwards, this German commander who admires Newfoundland’s rugged splendor, and believing what he is about to do to the Caribou is “neither right nor wrong”, issues a decisive, deadly command: “Permission to fire!”
Something to think about, eh b’ys?
Incidentally, the surf “no more than playing” at the feet of Newfoundland’s cliffs is gem-dandiest image in this book.
And another thing — history allows us to call the Germans sons-a-bitches Bad Guys of WWII. As a Caribou survivor aboard a lifeboat says: “There’s a war on. The Germans don’t give a good goddamn about children.”
I eventually thought of a third book — Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel about his being a prisoner of war in Dresden when the allies carpet-bombed that German city in 1945, igniting a firestorm that burned everything, and everyone in its path, including babes in arms.
Also, get this — my thoughts weren’t far from Kevin Major’s.
At the end of Land Beyond the Sea, Hank Scheller, a Caribou survivor, is bombardier aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress, when, over the course of ten minutes, “…771 tons of hellfire descend from the skies over Dresden.”
B’ys!
Just now, I’ve thought of a Woody Guthrie song — “The Sinking of the Reuben James”, a song about a convoy escort, the first US naval ship sunk by German U-boats in WWII.
“Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?” Guthrie asks.
I suggest Land Beyond the Sea asks a similar question: Did you have a friend, or kin — no matter how distant — on the Caribou?
Thank you for reading.
Harold Walters lives in Dunville, Newfoundland, doing his damnedest to live Happily Ever After. Reach him at ghwalters663@gmail.com.
April 5, 2022
Captivating enough to keep me reading, but confusing at times. Lots of characters to keep track of and not always clear why some of their timelines are relevant to the story. Character development was kind of all over the place - some too much, others too little. Parts of the book are overloaded with details of little importance, while some gripping parts are not described as clearly and leaves it up to the reader to guess what is happening. I was mostly interested in the naval warfare aspect of the book and was interesting to get an interpretation of both sides of the story.
August 30, 2019
This was an interesting read of the ferry from Sydney NS to Newfoundland being torpedoed by a German U-boat in WW2. A little known story apparently.
Kevin Major obviously did thorough research to write this Canadian disaster story from the point of a German submarine commander. Indeed I found that side of the story more captivating than that about the Newfoundlanders on the ferry.
Not a great read, but a good read.
Kevin Major obviously did thorough research to write this Canadian disaster story from the point of a German submarine commander. Indeed I found that side of the story more captivating than that about the Newfoundlanders on the ferry.
Not a great read, but a good read.
January 23, 2020
Exceptionally well written historical fiction about the intertwining roles the German U-Boats and the people of Newfoundland played in WWII.
July 24, 2020
Interesting to learn about the sinking of the Caribou.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews