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Beyond Time and Tide
Beyond Time and Tide is set in the local area between Christchurch Harbour and the New Forest, and tells the story of three young people who are literally thrown together in the waters of Dunkirk. The book follows their lives to the present day, telling the story of how each one came to be there, and the friendships, loves, loyalties and mistrust which grew up amongst them.
Elsie, a young English girl, struggling to keep her family safe and desperate to rescue her brother from the beaches.
Monique, a French farmer, running from the untold damage done unto her by German soldiers, with no plan but to get away from the German army and the home they defiled.
Josef, a German soldier who has committed an offence to his own honour, and deserting the German army for whom he will no longer fight.
Three young people whose lives become intertwined in a way that will change each of them forever.
Beyond Time and Tide follows their struggle to survive their love, friendship and betrayal, and an onward quest to find redemption and what was lost to them all.
Elsie, a young English girl, struggling to keep her family safe and desperate to rescue her brother from the beaches.
Monique, a French farmer, running from the untold damage done unto her by German soldiers, with no plan but to get away from the German army and the home they defiled.
Josef, a German soldier who has committed an offence to his own honour, and deserting the German army for whom he will no longer fight.
Three young people whose lives become intertwined in a way that will change each of them forever.
Beyond Time and Tide follows their struggle to survive their love, friendship and betrayal, and an onward quest to find redemption and what was lost to them all.
- GenresWorld War II
Paperback
Published May 28, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 12, 2022
***BOOK REVIEW***
This novel, by Anna Franklin Osborne, essentially follows four youngsters during WWII; Elsie who lives on the coast with her father, Daniel a young sailor she has befriended, Monique a French farm girl and Josef a German soldier.
The start follows Elsie as she starts skipping school to go sailing with Daniel. The sailing excursions are vividly represented with nautical imagery, we can feel the salt spray on their faces, the relaxing ebb and flow of the water. But when Elsie's drunk, violent father finds out, he bans her from going out sailing any more so Elsie keeps a watch out every night to see Daniel safely returned to harbour. One night he doesn't return so Elsie and her father go out looking for him and when they find him, he has a fractured leg. This is symptomatic of the bad luck that plagues our protagonists as the novel ensues.
Monique is a French farm girl and, as the invading Germans get closer, we fear for her safety. When the Nazis reach her, they plunder her farm and they commit heinous, unspeakable acts against her. She is forced to run from her beloved farm and all she knows. She befriends Josef who, after becoming disillusioned and devastated with the Nazi army and all it stands for, has deserted his regiment. Together he and Monique flee the advancing Germans.
One night, in the thick of war, Elsie and Daniel have sailed to Dunkirk to attempt to save Elsie's soldier brother Jack. They are unable to find him but, as they land on French soil, they find terrified and bedraggled Monique and Josef and take them in their boat back to England. And so begins unlikely bonds between the foursome which are to span a lifetime.
This novel is set against the backdrop of war. It demonstrates how this generation had not even healed from the psychological and physical scars of WWI when WWII begins.
All four protagonists are thrust into the responsibilities of adulthood before their time due to the loss of one or both of their parents either directly or indirectly because of the wars. There is a pervading sense of loss and grief throughout and Osborne highlights the horrific acts committed during wartime, some of which made my blood run cold. It is profoundly moving as we grow to care for these four youngsters and the trials and tribulations they are subjected to. It follows them throughout their lifetimes as we see the after effects of war continue to resonate well into their later life, as their lives intersect and connect through the ages, through their generation and beyond.
Osborne navigates the testing subject of war and it's aftermath with skill and sensitivity. Family bonds are nurtured and undone as the years fly by and Osborne handles the tricky narrative with all the expertise of a master storyteller.
There is a searing betrayal at the novel's heart; a jaw dropping, completely unexpected turn of events which left me shocked and reeling but kept me reading in the hope of eventual retribution.
One of the main themes is that of familial and parental unconditional love, love strong enough to survive the test of time and distance, and encourages you to hold your dear ones a little closer.
It conveys the brutality of war, the inhumanity, the loss and the terror. Ultimately, it reminds us to spare a thought for all the families ripped apart and ravaged by war. It urges us to remember the plight of those who lived through the wars but also the bereaved, the widowed, the orphans, the lost children. I give this novel four stars as it held me gripped from the first page and I will remember it for a long time to come.
This novel, by Anna Franklin Osborne, essentially follows four youngsters during WWII; Elsie who lives on the coast with her father, Daniel a young sailor she has befriended, Monique a French farm girl and Josef a German soldier.
The start follows Elsie as she starts skipping school to go sailing with Daniel. The sailing excursions are vividly represented with nautical imagery, we can feel the salt spray on their faces, the relaxing ebb and flow of the water. But when Elsie's drunk, violent father finds out, he bans her from going out sailing any more so Elsie keeps a watch out every night to see Daniel safely returned to harbour. One night he doesn't return so Elsie and her father go out looking for him and when they find him, he has a fractured leg. This is symptomatic of the bad luck that plagues our protagonists as the novel ensues.
Monique is a French farm girl and, as the invading Germans get closer, we fear for her safety. When the Nazis reach her, they plunder her farm and they commit heinous, unspeakable acts against her. She is forced to run from her beloved farm and all she knows. She befriends Josef who, after becoming disillusioned and devastated with the Nazi army and all it stands for, has deserted his regiment. Together he and Monique flee the advancing Germans.
One night, in the thick of war, Elsie and Daniel have sailed to Dunkirk to attempt to save Elsie's soldier brother Jack. They are unable to find him but, as they land on French soil, they find terrified and bedraggled Monique and Josef and take them in their boat back to England. And so begins unlikely bonds between the foursome which are to span a lifetime.
This novel is set against the backdrop of war. It demonstrates how this generation had not even healed from the psychological and physical scars of WWI when WWII begins.
All four protagonists are thrust into the responsibilities of adulthood before their time due to the loss of one or both of their parents either directly or indirectly because of the wars. There is a pervading sense of loss and grief throughout and Osborne highlights the horrific acts committed during wartime, some of which made my blood run cold. It is profoundly moving as we grow to care for these four youngsters and the trials and tribulations they are subjected to. It follows them throughout their lifetimes as we see the after effects of war continue to resonate well into their later life, as their lives intersect and connect through the ages, through their generation and beyond.
Osborne navigates the testing subject of war and it's aftermath with skill and sensitivity. Family bonds are nurtured and undone as the years fly by and Osborne handles the tricky narrative with all the expertise of a master storyteller.
There is a searing betrayal at the novel's heart; a jaw dropping, completely unexpected turn of events which left me shocked and reeling but kept me reading in the hope of eventual retribution.
One of the main themes is that of familial and parental unconditional love, love strong enough to survive the test of time and distance, and encourages you to hold your dear ones a little closer.
It conveys the brutality of war, the inhumanity, the loss and the terror. Ultimately, it reminds us to spare a thought for all the families ripped apart and ravaged by war. It urges us to remember the plight of those who lived through the wars but also the bereaved, the widowed, the orphans, the lost children. I give this novel four stars as it held me gripped from the first page and I will remember it for a long time to come.
June 14, 2022
Beyond Time and Tide by Anna Franklin Osborne was published with GooseWing Publications on June 1st to honour the anniversary of Dunkirk.
Elsie, Monique and Josef are three young people who all have the horrors of war inflicted on them in different ways. Elsie lives on the coast of Dorset with her father and older brother, Jack. Her mother, Betsy, had walked out on them some years previously, no longer able to live in a fractured marriage, one damaged by the traumas of the Great War. Elsie’s Dad had returned from sea a broken man unable to be the husband he once was. Now angered with the way the world has treated him, he is a tough task-master and Elsie spends her days, when not in school, cleaning and cooking like her mother before her. Elsie has always had a strong desire to learn how to sail but her father, although a skilled sailor, has not set sail since the war ended. Frustrated after an uncle doesn’t take her out, Elsie feels that her young life is unfulfilled, until she meets Daniel. He is only a little older than Elsie but has suffered his own tragedies. Their connection is immediate and a strong friendship is established, one that would be tested many times in the challenging years ahead.
When Hitler’s invasion begins, they all listen to the news, unable to comprehend that another war is a possibility. Finally when Churchill announces that Britain is at war, Jack signs up, leaving Elsie distraught. But adversity can lead to some remarkable happenings as Elsie and Daniel soon discover.
Monique is a young French woman who has been dealt her own very personal hardships. She works on a small family farm in an area that soon becomes a playground for German soldiers. They rape and pillage their way through rural communities, leaving devastation in their wake as their relentless invasion through France continues. When Monique’s world is thrown into chaos she leaves her life and her home behind her unsure of where she will go but knowing that she can no longer remain as long as this aggression toward her country continues.
Josef is young German soldier who walks the walk and talks the talk but inside Josef is slowly dying. Unable to comprehend the horrors inflicted by his own countrymen in the name of Hitler and a cause he never believed in, Josef makes a life-changing decision. With local assistance he sheds his uniform and makes his way toward the coast.
As Monique and Josef leave their lives behind them, Elsie and Daniel set sail for Dunkirk in the hope of rescuing Jack but instead they embark on a journey that changes the course of their lives forever.
Beyond Time and Tide is a tale that takes the reader into the world of three very strong individuals during those harrowing years of the Second World War and beyond. As their lives intertwine, their relationships shift as each faces a crisis of their own. Anna Franklin Osborne writes very sympathetically and with great empathy. When I read her previously published book, Walking Wounded, I said that it felt ‘like picking up a diary of a survivor’ as the characters became quite vivid and their experiences felt so real. In Beyond Time and Tide the moments of anguish are so intense, almost palpable, bringing the individual stories of Elsie, Monique and Josef very much to life. Genuine, empathetic and beautifully handled, Beyond Time and Tide, is an affecting story of love and betrayal, of torment and pain, an engrossing tale for anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction.
Elsie, Monique and Josef are three young people who all have the horrors of war inflicted on them in different ways. Elsie lives on the coast of Dorset with her father and older brother, Jack. Her mother, Betsy, had walked out on them some years previously, no longer able to live in a fractured marriage, one damaged by the traumas of the Great War. Elsie’s Dad had returned from sea a broken man unable to be the husband he once was. Now angered with the way the world has treated him, he is a tough task-master and Elsie spends her days, when not in school, cleaning and cooking like her mother before her. Elsie has always had a strong desire to learn how to sail but her father, although a skilled sailor, has not set sail since the war ended. Frustrated after an uncle doesn’t take her out, Elsie feels that her young life is unfulfilled, until she meets Daniel. He is only a little older than Elsie but has suffered his own tragedies. Their connection is immediate and a strong friendship is established, one that would be tested many times in the challenging years ahead.
When Hitler’s invasion begins, they all listen to the news, unable to comprehend that another war is a possibility. Finally when Churchill announces that Britain is at war, Jack signs up, leaving Elsie distraught. But adversity can lead to some remarkable happenings as Elsie and Daniel soon discover.
Monique is a young French woman who has been dealt her own very personal hardships. She works on a small family farm in an area that soon becomes a playground for German soldiers. They rape and pillage their way through rural communities, leaving devastation in their wake as their relentless invasion through France continues. When Monique’s world is thrown into chaos she leaves her life and her home behind her unsure of where she will go but knowing that she can no longer remain as long as this aggression toward her country continues.
Josef is young German soldier who walks the walk and talks the talk but inside Josef is slowly dying. Unable to comprehend the horrors inflicted by his own countrymen in the name of Hitler and a cause he never believed in, Josef makes a life-changing decision. With local assistance he sheds his uniform and makes his way toward the coast.
As Monique and Josef leave their lives behind them, Elsie and Daniel set sail for Dunkirk in the hope of rescuing Jack but instead they embark on a journey that changes the course of their lives forever.
Beyond Time and Tide is a tale that takes the reader into the world of three very strong individuals during those harrowing years of the Second World War and beyond. As their lives intertwine, their relationships shift as each faces a crisis of their own. Anna Franklin Osborne writes very sympathetically and with great empathy. When I read her previously published book, Walking Wounded, I said that it felt ‘like picking up a diary of a survivor’ as the characters became quite vivid and their experiences felt so real. In Beyond Time and Tide the moments of anguish are so intense, almost palpable, bringing the individual stories of Elsie, Monique and Josef very much to life. Genuine, empathetic and beautifully handled, Beyond Time and Tide, is an affecting story of love and betrayal, of torment and pain, an engrossing tale for anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction.
September 14, 2022
Beyond Time and Tide is a hugely emotional story full of pain and guilt and betrayal, it’s a story of friendship and survival.
This is the first book I have read by Anna Franklin Osborne, I know that I have made a personal rule of cutting back on the number of new to me authors so that I can focus on my ever-expanding TBR pile I had to break my own rule for this and I am so pleased that I did as I really enjoyed it and I will certainly be looking out for her previous book; The Walking Wounded.
Set during WW2 this tells the story of three different people plunged into the horror that is WW2.
Elsie is a lonely little girl who after her mother left them has had to take up the role of the woman in the house when all she wants to do is have fun and sail like her father, uncle and brother. I thought Elsie was a little childish at times, but I understood her she didn’t want all the responsibility of being ‘mother’ and being treated no better than a live-in servant her days are broken up into either cooking or cleaning.
Monique was working on her farm in France until the German army marched in and take over, she is shocked and disgusted over the atrocities so she flees leaving all she knows, those she loves behind ut with nowhere to go and her beloved country now an involuntary host to the enemy she is at a loss as to what to do next.
And finally, we have Josef a very young German soldier, a young man who does his job, does what he is told on the surface a good obedient soldier, but inside he is appaled by the violence the horror, he is a good man, he doesn’t want this doesn’t believe in what his country is doing to others so he does the makes drastic decision to desert.
All three of these young people’s lives become entwined as was the case doing the war, three young people whose lives change dramatically and now they must make hard decisions and live with the consequences.
Those who follow the blog will know of my love for this era. I was instantly drawn to it from the moment I set eyes on the cover, and then I glanced at the back cover and I knew that this was a book that I had to read.
I really, really loved this book and definitely a must-read for anyone who loves this era. It’s heartbreaking, it’s full of compassion and intense emotion. The writing is so crisp and clear it feels as though you are standing in the shoes of the characters.
This is the first book I have read by Anna Franklin Osborne, I know that I have made a personal rule of cutting back on the number of new to me authors so that I can focus on my ever-expanding TBR pile I had to break my own rule for this and I am so pleased that I did as I really enjoyed it and I will certainly be looking out for her previous book; The Walking Wounded.
Set during WW2 this tells the story of three different people plunged into the horror that is WW2.
Elsie is a lonely little girl who after her mother left them has had to take up the role of the woman in the house when all she wants to do is have fun and sail like her father, uncle and brother. I thought Elsie was a little childish at times, but I understood her she didn’t want all the responsibility of being ‘mother’ and being treated no better than a live-in servant her days are broken up into either cooking or cleaning.
Monique was working on her farm in France until the German army marched in and take over, she is shocked and disgusted over the atrocities so she flees leaving all she knows, those she loves behind ut with nowhere to go and her beloved country now an involuntary host to the enemy she is at a loss as to what to do next.
And finally, we have Josef a very young German soldier, a young man who does his job, does what he is told on the surface a good obedient soldier, but inside he is appaled by the violence the horror, he is a good man, he doesn’t want this doesn’t believe in what his country is doing to others so he does the makes drastic decision to desert.
All three of these young people’s lives become entwined as was the case doing the war, three young people whose lives change dramatically and now they must make hard decisions and live with the consequences.
Those who follow the blog will know of my love for this era. I was instantly drawn to it from the moment I set eyes on the cover, and then I glanced at the back cover and I knew that this was a book that I had to read.
I really, really loved this book and definitely a must-read for anyone who loves this era. It’s heartbreaking, it’s full of compassion and intense emotion. The writing is so crisp and clear it feels as though you are standing in the shoes of the characters.
September 18, 2022
🇬🇧📚 Book Tour Review 📚🇬🇧
#️⃣ 2022 Tour Number: 49
#️⃣ 2022 Books Read: 80/30
🌟 Rating: 📓📙📘📗 📚(5/5⭐)
🔲 Book Title: Beyond Time and Tide
🖋️ Author: Anna Franklin Osborne #AnnaFranklinOsborne
🎭 Genre: Historical Fiction
📖 Format: 📖
📄 Pages: 260
📢 Tour: @lovebookstours
📅 Tour dates: 5th - 16th September 2022
📅 Review date: 16th September 2022
#LBTCrew #lovebooktours
.
#bookstagram #bookblog #bookreview #ukbookblog #ukbookstagram #bookworm #readersofinstagram #booktour #lovebooks #lovereading #2022books #bookstoread #bookstoread #BookTourReview #ad #adpr #blogtour #TDEPReviews
💻📖🎧 Book format & quality 💻📖🎧
Thick cover, slightly matt texture. Good thickness pages
🌻SpLD comments (from a dyslexic)🌻
Excellent font size, colour contrast, breaks in the chapters. Easy reading for my dyslexic brain.
🎨 Artwork🎨
Beautiful period pallet. Very much in keeping with the book.
✒️ Style✏️
I really enjoy reading historical fiction and this book doesn't disappoint. The book takes you on twists and turns and draws you deeper in.
👪 Characters👪
Elsie, who the book is based around, Monique, a French farm girl, Daniel, a befriended sailor of Elsie, & Josef, a German soldier.
📈 Plot 📉
War is brutal, tearing friends and families apart, whilst also strengthening relationships you find along your way. I had a love hate relationship with the characters, however they are easily relatable. This book is filled with raw truths and highlights the challenges of WW2.
📖 Read more 📖
Absolutely, without a doubt.
🎙️ Favourite quote🎙️
"And I'm so glad to know you were watching out for me. I wish I'd known."
🤓 Author Synopsis 🤓
Dunkirk 1940
Three young people are thrown together in the waters of Dunkirk.
Elsie, a young English girl, struggling to keep her family safe and desperate to rescue her brother from the beaches.
Monique, a French farmer, running from the untold damage done unto her by German soldiers, with no plan but to get away from the German army and the home they defiled.
Josef, a German soldier who has committed an offence to his own honour, deserting the German army for whom he will no longer fight.
Three young people whose lives become intertwined in a way that will change each of them forever.
Beyond Time and Tide follows their struggle to survive their past: love, friendship and betrayal, and an onward quest to find redemption and what was lost to them all.
🖋️ Author Bio 🖋️
I have always worked in health care, and like so many other parents, hit a tiny crisis a few years ago when I felt that my purpose in life had narrowed to not an awful lot more than dashing between my work and being a mummy taxi.
I managed to find time to begin singing with a choir, and that helped me feel that I might have a more creative side to myself. One evening, my husband was out and, quite suddenly, I decided to Just Start Writing. I immediately hit the first obstacles of terrible handwriting and a broken laptop, so my writing career began that night in bed, typing into the note section of my smartphone, with no clear idea of what I wanted to say but resulting in a severe case of RSI and several short stories over the next few nights.
My husband was delighted that I had suddenly found this passion and kept encouraging me to write a novel, which I really felt I did NOT have in me. Later that summer, however, we were walking along a D-Day beach for no other grander reason than our ferry home from France being late, and I began telling our kids about my three great-uncles who were part of that day, and my grandmother who sewed parachutes for the paratroopers jumping over Normandy. Neil looked at me and smiled and said, ‘you do actually have a story there, you know….’
Walking Wounded was my first novel, and in many ways, came easily to me. Beyond Time and Tide was interrupted over and over again by serious family health crises, not to mention the Pandemic. As always, it was my family who encouraged me to keep coming back to it – and I am forever grateful that they helped me persevere.
🛒🛍️ Buy Links 🛒🛍️
https://amzn.to/3ObvcJl
#️⃣ 2022 Tour Number: 49
#️⃣ 2022 Books Read: 80/30
🌟 Rating: 📓📙📘📗 📚(5/5⭐)
🔲 Book Title: Beyond Time and Tide
🖋️ Author: Anna Franklin Osborne #AnnaFranklinOsborne
🎭 Genre: Historical Fiction
📖 Format: 📖
📄 Pages: 260
📢 Tour: @lovebookstours
📅 Tour dates: 5th - 16th September 2022
📅 Review date: 16th September 2022
#LBTCrew #lovebooktours
.
#bookstagram #bookblog #bookreview #ukbookblog #ukbookstagram #bookworm #readersofinstagram #booktour #lovebooks #lovereading #2022books #bookstoread #bookstoread #BookTourReview #ad #adpr #blogtour #TDEPReviews
💻📖🎧 Book format & quality 💻📖🎧
Thick cover, slightly matt texture. Good thickness pages
🌻SpLD comments (from a dyslexic)🌻
Excellent font size, colour contrast, breaks in the chapters. Easy reading for my dyslexic brain.
🎨 Artwork🎨
Beautiful period pallet. Very much in keeping with the book.
✒️ Style✏️
I really enjoy reading historical fiction and this book doesn't disappoint. The book takes you on twists and turns and draws you deeper in.
👪 Characters👪
Elsie, who the book is based around, Monique, a French farm girl, Daniel, a befriended sailor of Elsie, & Josef, a German soldier.
📈 Plot 📉
War is brutal, tearing friends and families apart, whilst also strengthening relationships you find along your way. I had a love hate relationship with the characters, however they are easily relatable. This book is filled with raw truths and highlights the challenges of WW2.
📖 Read more 📖
Absolutely, without a doubt.
🎙️ Favourite quote🎙️
"And I'm so glad to know you were watching out for me. I wish I'd known."
🤓 Author Synopsis 🤓
Dunkirk 1940
Three young people are thrown together in the waters of Dunkirk.
Elsie, a young English girl, struggling to keep her family safe and desperate to rescue her brother from the beaches.
Monique, a French farmer, running from the untold damage done unto her by German soldiers, with no plan but to get away from the German army and the home they defiled.
Josef, a German soldier who has committed an offence to his own honour, deserting the German army for whom he will no longer fight.
Three young people whose lives become intertwined in a way that will change each of them forever.
Beyond Time and Tide follows their struggle to survive their past: love, friendship and betrayal, and an onward quest to find redemption and what was lost to them all.
🖋️ Author Bio 🖋️
I have always worked in health care, and like so many other parents, hit a tiny crisis a few years ago when I felt that my purpose in life had narrowed to not an awful lot more than dashing between my work and being a mummy taxi.
I managed to find time to begin singing with a choir, and that helped me feel that I might have a more creative side to myself. One evening, my husband was out and, quite suddenly, I decided to Just Start Writing. I immediately hit the first obstacles of terrible handwriting and a broken laptop, so my writing career began that night in bed, typing into the note section of my smartphone, with no clear idea of what I wanted to say but resulting in a severe case of RSI and several short stories over the next few nights.
My husband was delighted that I had suddenly found this passion and kept encouraging me to write a novel, which I really felt I did NOT have in me. Later that summer, however, we were walking along a D-Day beach for no other grander reason than our ferry home from France being late, and I began telling our kids about my three great-uncles who were part of that day, and my grandmother who sewed parachutes for the paratroopers jumping over Normandy. Neil looked at me and smiled and said, ‘you do actually have a story there, you know….’
Walking Wounded was my first novel, and in many ways, came easily to me. Beyond Time and Tide was interrupted over and over again by serious family health crises, not to mention the Pandemic. As always, it was my family who encouraged me to keep coming back to it – and I am forever grateful that they helped me persevere.
🛒🛍️ Buy Links 🛒🛍️
https://amzn.to/3ObvcJl
September 7, 2022
As always I want to start by saying that I was given an ARC of this to review as part of a @lovebooktours book tour. My review is honest and left voluntarily. #LBTCrew #Ad #Gifted #LoveBooksTours
Beyond Time and Tide is a book that shows how three people’s lives are affected by the Second World War. Each of the chatacters their own strengths and weaknesses. We have Elsie who lives with her father and Jack her older brother on the coast of Dorset. Her mother had left them after them after the Great War. Elsie dreams of being able to sail like her father but when not in school she is often left to clean and cook filling the empty maternal role in the house. Despite feeling frustrated her life is turned upside down when Hitler’s invasion begins.
Then we have Monique a young French woman who is dealt her own hardships with the breakout of war. The family farm she works on becomes a stopping point for the German Soldiers who perform all kind of atrocities in their wake. Make one of the toughest choices of her life Monique leaves her old life and home behind unsure of what she will find but knowing she cannot stay where she is while the invasion continues.
Finally we have Josef a young German Soldier who seems to be the pinnacle of what one ought to be. Unable to continue to justify the horrors inflicted on his own countrymen and unwilling to follow a regime he never believed in he sheds is uniform and heads for the coast.
The novel follows these three separate and strong individuals as they try and navigate the horrors and traumas that the Second World War piles upon them. Each character comes to life so much so that you often forget this is a work of fiction and it could be a memoir. I normally tend to shy away from historical fiction that deals with the First or Second World War but Franklin writes in a sympathetic and understanding way. The horrors are real and so are the ways it affects each character. Nothing felt embellished to make a good story but rather it all flowed as if reading a memoir. At it’s heart Beyond Time and Tide is a novel of torment, pain and betrayal but also love and hope. I would highly recommend it for anyone who likes historical fiction particularly with believable and well developed characters.
Beyond Time and Tide is a book that shows how three people’s lives are affected by the Second World War. Each of the chatacters their own strengths and weaknesses. We have Elsie who lives with her father and Jack her older brother on the coast of Dorset. Her mother had left them after them after the Great War. Elsie dreams of being able to sail like her father but when not in school she is often left to clean and cook filling the empty maternal role in the house. Despite feeling frustrated her life is turned upside down when Hitler’s invasion begins.
Then we have Monique a young French woman who is dealt her own hardships with the breakout of war. The family farm she works on becomes a stopping point for the German Soldiers who perform all kind of atrocities in their wake. Make one of the toughest choices of her life Monique leaves her old life and home behind unsure of what she will find but knowing she cannot stay where she is while the invasion continues.
Finally we have Josef a young German Soldier who seems to be the pinnacle of what one ought to be. Unable to continue to justify the horrors inflicted on his own countrymen and unwilling to follow a regime he never believed in he sheds is uniform and heads for the coast.
The novel follows these three separate and strong individuals as they try and navigate the horrors and traumas that the Second World War piles upon them. Each character comes to life so much so that you often forget this is a work of fiction and it could be a memoir. I normally tend to shy away from historical fiction that deals with the First or Second World War but Franklin writes in a sympathetic and understanding way. The horrors are real and so are the ways it affects each character. Nothing felt embellished to make a good story but rather it all flowed as if reading a memoir. At it’s heart Beyond Time and Tide is a novel of torment, pain and betrayal but also love and hope. I would highly recommend it for anyone who likes historical fiction particularly with believable and well developed characters.
September 10, 2022
4.5/5⭐️
This book actually left me lost for words! I have a love hate relationship when it comes to reading books set during WW2 — I have to mentally be in a headspace that lets me cope with the emotional effect that these type of books have on me. However, I am so glad I decided to read this.
I truly could not put this book down and read it in one sitting (I just wish it had been a little longer because I thought there was a couple of things that could have been developed upon).
Each character has their own story to tell and subsequently their own pain to bear. The author has the ability to manipulate your emotions when it comes to these characters. Actions that might have caused me anger in other books had me (to some extent) sympathising with certain characters because I knew of their past and the reason behind the wrongdoing. By the next chapter I would be completely sympathising with the victim of the wrongdoing.
Overall, this was a very powerful read and I would recommend it to lovers of historical fiction.
This book actually left me lost for words! I have a love hate relationship when it comes to reading books set during WW2 — I have to mentally be in a headspace that lets me cope with the emotional effect that these type of books have on me. However, I am so glad I decided to read this.
I truly could not put this book down and read it in one sitting (I just wish it had been a little longer because I thought there was a couple of things that could have been developed upon).
Each character has their own story to tell and subsequently their own pain to bear. The author has the ability to manipulate your emotions when it comes to these characters. Actions that might have caused me anger in other books had me (to some extent) sympathising with certain characters because I knew of their past and the reason behind the wrongdoing. By the next chapter I would be completely sympathising with the victim of the wrongdoing.
Overall, this was a very powerful read and I would recommend it to lovers of historical fiction.
September 13, 2022
I really enjoyed this book and it was a really quick and easy read. The storyline was compelling and I loved how it was split up into sections within the bok allowing for developement and growth as well as allowing the reader to easily see whose live was being followed at what time.
The characters are well developed and I found their stories to be heart-wrenching and it really showcased the difficulties of living in war torn countries and the effects and aftermath that this has on ordinary citizens and their everyday lives.
This book was both heartbreaking and hopeful at times and I found myself both loving and hating the majority of the characters throughout the book, which made it more relatable because even those you love, do things that make you dislike them at times. However, I loved Elsie all the way through and I was so happy for her at the end of the book.
A really good read.
The characters are well developed and I found their stories to be heart-wrenching and it really showcased the difficulties of living in war torn countries and the effects and aftermath that this has on ordinary citizens and their everyday lives.
This book was both heartbreaking and hopeful at times and I found myself both loving and hating the majority of the characters throughout the book, which made it more relatable because even those you love, do things that make you dislike them at times. However, I loved Elsie all the way through and I was so happy for her at the end of the book.
A really good read.
September 4, 2022
3.5
This story brings together four people as war is breaking out in the late 1930s/early 1940's. We read about their individual lives leading up to the war, all from different backgrounds, and how the war brought them together.
I liked that the story was broken up into parts. Each part is a stage of the war/life for the individuals. I teared up at the end. The author brought it together beautifully.
This is a quick read. The author writes just enough detail to get a sense of what is going on. While I would have liked to have more depth in the story, I didn't feel it lacked character or story development.
Thank you Love Books Tour for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This story brings together four people as war is breaking out in the late 1930s/early 1940's. We read about their individual lives leading up to the war, all from different backgrounds, and how the war brought them together.
I liked that the story was broken up into parts. Each part is a stage of the war/life for the individuals. I teared up at the end. The author brought it together beautifully.
This is a quick read. The author writes just enough detail to get a sense of what is going on. While I would have liked to have more depth in the story, I didn't feel it lacked character or story development.
Thank you Love Books Tour for the opportunity to read and review this book.
October 11, 2022
Wow....just wow
What an amazing story, and also so very sad. Lovely to read about the places near to where i live. Such an amazing writer and how I shall enjoy reasonable over and over. Thank you Anna xx
What an amazing story, and also so very sad. Lovely to read about the places near to where i live. Such an amazing writer and how I shall enjoy reasonable over and over. Thank you Anna xx
September 2, 2022
I couldn’t put this book down! I found it so interesting and heartbreaking at the same time! I thought all the characters were so interesting and I loved how they all ended up intertwining and becoming connected.
It gives a really raw and true feel with all of the awful things that many people would have faced during WW2 and how hard it must have been.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys historical fiction but I would definitely get yourself some tissues!
Thanks @lovebookstours for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review
It gives a really raw and true feel with all of the awful things that many people would have faced during WW2 and how hard it must have been.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys historical fiction but I would definitely get yourself some tissues!
Thanks @lovebookstours for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review
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