Somewhere Beyond the Sea

by Amanda James

[Leah]

After absolutely loving Amanda James’s first novel A Stitch In Time – a fantastic time travel novel, coming from someone who’s wary of stuff like that, should tell you all you need to know about how good the book is, I was very pleased to hear about her second novel Somewhere Beyond The Sea. I was, of course, disappointed it wasn’t a sequel to A Stich In Time (but it’s coming at the end of the year – yay!) but I was intrigued to read the novel, nevertheless. I thought it sounded intriguing, and I loved the dark cover, showing the sea and some rocks. It’s very atmospheric.

The first chapter of Somewhere Beyond The Sea throws us right into the action – introducing us to an unknown narrator, about to wade into the sea, naked no less. It’s an intriguing opening, and this narrative continues throughout the novel in bits and pieces, here are there, unravelling the story of the person in the sea, and how they ended up there, and what happened when someone pulled them out (which wasn’t their intention – they were supposed to be dead). It added an element of intrigue, of darkness to the story, especially as the person who decided to kill themselves, Bobby (as they’re named by the fella who rescues them) seems to have had quite the life, but I really liked reading about Bob and Maureen, who rescued Bobby. The rest of the narrative is told in the third-person, in the present day, where Tristan and his wife Karen have moved to the Cornish village where Tristan grew up. Karen’s agoraphobic, afraid to leave the house, until pushed (gently) by the vicar’s wife Jenny into joining their choir, but when someone from Karen’s past recognises her, her future is at risk, but can she keep her blackmailer quiet?

I thought Somewhere Beyond The Sea was so much darker than A Stitch In Time, so completely different in fact, that it’s quite hard to know they were written by the same author! What I really liked about the book was the consistent dynamic between Tristan and Karen. It was quite obvious these two really love each other, through thick and thin, sickness and health and I quite liked the fact that, unlike most men, Tristan was willing to put up with Karen’s crazy moods and unpredictability instead of just walking away as many people would. It takes a while for the novel to have some action, it’s not the most action packed novel you’ll ever read, but I liked the tale of Tristan and Karen’s love. I thought it was sweet, and even after everything came out and it was all out in the open, it was still so lovely that Tristan was willing to just be okay about it, it probably helped that he was a GP, they need a rather calming nature, I think.

I probably didn’t enjoy Somewhere Beyond The Sea as much as A Stitch In Time, but it was still a book I enjoyed. It’s a great tale of a strong marriage, and the little snippets of ‘Bobby’s’ life are interesting and well worth reading the novel for by themselves! James rather did keep me guessing throughout, and I can’t wait to read her next novel (the sequel to A Stich In Time – woohoo!!!). James is a very clever author, with many strings to her bow and she continually surprises me with her novels, they seem to always be so very, very different and that’s a rare talent!