Beyond the Moon
“Outlander meets Birdsong is this haunting debut timeslip novel, where a strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War and a young woman living in modern-day England a century later. Shortlisted for the Eharmony/Orion Write Your Own Love Story Prize 2019”
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…
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. Two journeys begun a century apart, but somehow destined to coincide - and become one desperate struggle to be together.
Part WW1 historical fiction, part timeslip love story - and at the same time a meditation on the themes of war, mental illness, identity and art - Beyond The Moon sweeps the reader on an unforgettable journey through time.
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Moon-Haunting-Novel-Travel-ebook/dp/B07TQMTTPY
Author Q&A
Author Q&A
1.
What is the first book that made you cry?
I’m
pretty sure it would be Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre – the part where, at the
appalling Lowood Institution for poor and orphaned girls, Jane’s young friend Helen
Burns dies of consumption. I was heartbroken! I’ll always remember some writing
advice I learned at a workshop many years ago: “The reader loves to cry”. It’s
so true. As readers we crave heartfelt emotions, and sad ones pack just as much
of a punch as happy ones.
2. How long, on average, does it
take you to write a book?
I’ve only written Beyond The
Moon so far, and that took quite a while – I’m hoping that I can put what I
learned writing BTM to good use, and so book number two won’t be quite such a
tortuous process! BTM entailed around two years of dedicated research, then it
took about another year to produce a first draft.
3. How do you select the names of
your characters?
Ever since I first decided I wanted to write a WW1
timeslip, I knew my main female protagonist would be called Louisa. It’s a name
I just love – and it’s also a name that wouldn’t have seemed unusual when
Louisa travels back in time 100 years. Robert was named for the WW1 poet and
writer Robert Graves. Other names came after a little research, or simply
popped into my head.
4. What creature do you consider
your "spirit animal" to be?
Can I have a sloth? I wouldn’t say that I’m lazy,
particularly, but it takes me a long, looooong time to get my act together. I
feel more than a little spiritual kinship with the sloth.
5. What are your top 5 favorite
movies?
I always really struggle with questions like this,
as I like so many. I would probably say Moonstruck, Brief Encounter, Bridget
Jones’ Diary, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC series, not the movie, if that’s
allowed) and Dirty Dancing.
6. If you were the last person on
Earth, what would you do?
I would probably go and have a good old nose around
all the fabulous palaces, historic castles and stately homes up and down the UK
– and lament the fact that I didn’t have a butler.
7. What fictional character would
you want to be friends with in real life?
It would have to be Mr Darcy (with Elizabeth
Bennett safely off the scene, of course) – or the gorgeous, rather tortured Rev.
Sidney Chambers from Grantchester.
8. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
My main advice would be to take all advice with a pinch of salt. Forget
about writing to market, writing in the correct genre etc etc. Write what
you’re passionate about. Write what’s in your heart. That raw, honest passion
and emotion is exactly what your reader wants from a book.
8. What book do you wish you had
written?
The Thorn Birds. It was the first proper “grown up”
book I ever read, and it wrung every possible emotion out of me. I’ve never
forgotten it (particularly Colleen McCullough’s descriptions of the Australian
Outback), and I would love to be able to write something half as good.
Author Bio
Catherine Taylor was born and grew up on the island of Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. She is a former journalist, most recently for Dow Jones News and The Wall Street Journal in London. Beyond The Moon is her first novel. She lives in Ealing, London with her husband and two children.
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