Review: Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor

Blurb

A strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War in 1916 with 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 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.

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…

*NB Contains graphic descriptions of war violence and injuries, as well as profanity and mild sex.

Review

(Note: This is another old review, written in mid-2019.)

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.

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.  

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. 

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. 

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. 

Weaker areas

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.

Who’s the audience?

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. 

What’s the Spice Level?

To be honest, I don’t quite remember! The publisher’s blurb mentions “mild sex” so if you’re sensitive, proceed with caution.

Where can you buy this book?

Try Bookshop.org

Thanks again to NetGalley and AuthorBuzz for the opportunity to read Beyond the Moon in exchange for an honest review.