The Back of Beyond

by Barbara Bickmore

Determined to forget a foolish love affair, Cassandra Clark throws herself into her job as the first woman with the Australian Flying Doctors Service. 40,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Australia, Historical Romance, Novels, Historical

465 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

BARBARA BICKMORE wrote her first short story at seven and has been writing ever since. Her dream to become a published writer came true when EAST OF THE SUN was published in 1988. As her heroines grow they become women who make a difference and don't settle for living life the way society dictates. Readers will experience sorrow, pain, happiness, romance, love and will enjoy growing with the heroines as they rise to life's challenges.

Reviews

[Pandemo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been to Australia, and most likely will not live long enough to go, but this book gives such a sense of place that I can picture it, smell it, taste it... You get the picture. Very well-done. I was interested to note that the actual cases described were based on reality.

I borrowed this from the local library, but after reading it, went on line and got a copy for myself. I'm sure it will be passed around the family to folks who live in more up-to-date locations where books from 1994 are frequently purged from libraries ...

[Muphyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, light summer read, nothing too challenging for the brain in hot temperatures. A bit absurd how many people die in plane crashes and car accidents or are otherwise removed from the plot. But overall, an entertaining epic that held my focus during a loooong plane trip.

[Táňa Vrabcová · Rating 4 out of 5]

jeden kvalitný ženský román, kde hlavná hrdinka vie čo chce a ide si za tým.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book at least three times now. This is how much I love it. As always, I discovered new things with this read. I never enjoyed the "love-story" between Cassie and Blake. I deliberately put it in quotes, because to me it is not love. It annoys me that Cassie is hung up on Blake throughout the whole book. All they ever shared was lust, desire. I know many romance novels do put love and desire on the same level. For me, desire is not love. And in the end, Cassie realizes it, too. I wanted her and Sam to get together from the first moment. Always. But I also don't necessarily like the way Cassie constantly puts down her relationship with Chris; in my eyes, she did love him. Maybe not as much as he loved her, but there was love. Those things continue to annoy me. Particularly Blake though. In my eyes, he is just some macho guy. Apart from the love story, this story always gets me because of the Flying Doctors. I've been fascinated by them ever since I was a child. I love how not every case has a happy-ending, because it is more realistic this way. Yes, Cassie loses a dear friend, her best friend and her husband because she lives where she lives. It's heartbreaking. But Cassie, as well as Sam, love the land and the outback. They know they can help, they can help improve it. This, too, is a love story.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about Australia. It is based off of the flying doctors and that time period and the ruggedness of the Outback of Australia. I found the whole lifestyle very romantic when I was reading it for the 1st time in middle school! :)

[Shannon Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another historical romance set in Australia during WWII. Great story, worth a read.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story, the idea of the flying doctors is fascinating to me.

[Sarah]

Makes me want to travel to Africa and work there with the people. It so vividly brought the people and surrounding right to the reader. Love Barbara Bickmore

[Febe'S Mening · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.5*

This was so comforting. A little bit too much filled with romance. But nontheless very fun!

[Lotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a romance novel, but that is not why I like it. I like it because Cassie is a strong female doctor in a time where it was very unusual for a woman to become a doctor. Also the part of the story, that has nothing to do with romance is very interesting, like her flying out to treat people, the description of daily life in a small town in the Australian outback in the 1940s and 1950s and the friendships she builds with interesting people along the way.

Beneath follows a resume of the story, the romance and my notes to why the story would be so much better without it.

Cassie a young and inexperienced female doctor, who let her feelings for a more experienced doctor at the hospital she works at in Sydney get in the way of her career.
She feels forced to leave her job and takes a position in the Australian outback with the flying doctors that fly out to treat the people who have settled far from everything. She moves to a tiny town where she soon develops a very close friendship with her roommate Fiona. Sam, the pilot that is supposed to fly the plane, she depends on to do her job, is skeptical of her at first, but with time she gains his respect, when he sees how skilled she
She makes several other friends in and around the tiny town and starts enjoying her new life. And then she meets Blake. Apparently he is some sort of super human - she falls in love with him by just seeing him, and they have a "romance", which is to me very unrealistic, and has nothing to do with love. She desires him and he desires her and they act like irresponsible hormone ridden teenagers, and then he flees the country, officially to join the war, but really because of his feeling scared of his strong feelings for her.
He keeps on acting like an idiot by not writing her any letters and then marrying Fiona who has not witnessed the affair because of her being in England to take care of her dying father. Fiona returns from England a married woman and Cassie is heartbroken.... What I find amazing is that they live in the smallest town ever, and everybody knows everything about everyone, but somehow Fiona never gets to know about Blake and Cassie's affair.
The war continues for several years, Cassie keeps feeling sorry for herself, Sam, her pilot has also left for the war, and she learns to fly the plane herself after his substitute dies in a plane crash. Then Blake returns home and Cassie somehow feels even for sorry for herself and quickly marries a man that she doesn't care about. The years pass by, and then one day her husband dies in a car accident, Fiona also dies at some point when she falls of a horse and Blake, who thinks he is gods ultimate gift to the earth just assumes that Cassie wants to pick up their romance where they left it many years before... Cassie finally realizes he is an idiot and that she is actually in love with Sam, and then they live happily ever after.

[Isabelle Roy]

I had loved the story of this book when it first came out (the Australian outback reminded me of my years as an expat in the Kalahari desert) so recently I decided to read it again. But this edition is FULL of typos ("arid" instead of "and", "riot" instead of "not", punctuation in the middle of words, words split in two with each part appended to the words preceding and following it, etc). Clearly the result of feeding the previous edition to a word recognition software. It is quite insulting to me that I was sold a book that was not proof-read by a single person before sending it to print. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK unless you enjoy being constantly pulled out of the story to figure out what the original wording was.

[Melody Nürnberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Absolutes Lieblingsbuch das ich definitiv noch mehrere Male lesen werde. Es vereint Themen wie Feminismus, Geschichte, Medizin und bietet gleichzeitig eine Schilderung von Australien bei der man sich nur in das Land verlieben kann und davon anfängt zu träumen selbst über die weiten Ebenen zu gleiten. Abgerundet mit einer Liebesgeschichte, die aber nur ein winziger Teil der Erzählung ist ist das Buch für mich perfekt.

[Dkwallpdx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely romantic historical fiction story about a woman doctor in the outback in Australia. The Flying Doctors was started in the 1930's and she was the first female doctor in their service. Of course, she was love weary and had several new love interests in her new country. The story was an interesting blend of learning about Australia, medical conditions amid romance a plenty.

[Amy Mcclellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was my favorite out of the whole series. I love Barbara Bickmore’s way of tying a tangled love story within places most people would not ever think it would happen. Suspenseful, exciting, and leaving you wanting to hurry to the next book in the series.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Bücherflohmarkt)
Ich habe dieses Buch schon vor vielen Jahren gelesen und auch beim zweiten Durchgang hat es mir sehr gut gefallen.
Beim nächsten Flohmarktbesuch kommt dann gleich das nächste Buch dieser Autorin in den Einkaufswagen 😀

[Jacki Chorzempa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cassie is a boss babe! I loved reading about her starting with the flying doctors (although sometimes the graphic medical emergencies made me queasy). But this book was wayyyy longer than it needed to be.

[Kaeeap · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time since when I wake up early I am glad to have the opportunity to ready for 2 extra hrs before leaving for work. I loved this book - read it yourself and find out why.

[JoAnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the subject of flying doctor in rural Australia, but not interested in romantic rivals that became focus of book. Did not finish.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Ich LIEBE dieses Buch! Ich habe ,,Wer den Himmel berührt" eigentlich nur aus Zufall angefangen zulesen, und habe niemals mit so einem wunderschönen Lese-Erlebnis gerechnet. Dieses Buch hat einfach alles vereint; eine junge Frau, die ihren hart erkämpften Beruf als Ärztin angeht, Liebesdrama, das jedes "Romance - Leserherz" höherschlagen lässt, interesante und spannende Einsätze, und natürlich einen lebensechten Einblick in das Leben der 30er bis 50er Jahre im australischen Busch. Ich habe bei diesem Buch soviel gefühlt, egal ob auf romantischer Ebene oder beim miterleben der ärztlichen Einsätze. Gleichzeit konnte ich so viele tolle Sichtweisen und Blickwinkel auf die Welt und das Leben dort miterleben, wie bei sonst keinem Buch jemals. Jedesmal beim Aufschlagen des Buches ist man direkt mitten im Herzen Australiens aufgewacht, und wollte garnicht wieder nach Europa und in die Wirklichkeit zurückkehren.

[Jessica Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. It was hard to put down.

[Marlo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculous (think phrases like "mad, passionate love") with a silly heroine who was thrown over by her married lover, so she swore off men only to fall in the arms of a notorious playboy. Geesh. The only part that was interesting at all -- and the reason I picked up the book -- was the promise of the historical account of the Flying Doctor Service. But it wasn't enough to rescue this book. I finished by skimming since it was just not worth the time.

[Carole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Barbara Bickford's book, The Moon Below much better. This one was as long, but I did not like the characters as well. Perhaps it was because there were so many deaths. But, then why not this was about a doctor and some factual events that happened with the Flying Doctors of Australia.

[Viera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I grew up with BB books. I am a better person because of them. They touch my heart with every re-reading. They are smart, full of well researched topics, the places and times come alive and you feel for the characters, the ppl become your friends. This one is simply special.

[Chris]

Ned. Titel: Op zilveren vleugels

[Susan Lovenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Australia wondrous adventure

I would recommend this book to every working women. Gives great insight to factual Flying Doctors during the war. Good Read!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one years ago and remember being transfixed by this epic story of love and adventure. This one was passed around at work and everyone enjoyed it.

[Hélène Wagner-Meige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une histoire d’amour qui met notre mal en patiente 🤌🏻