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The Broken Horizon
Chrissie Reid, a young battered wife living on a small Orkney island in 1906 finally turns on her husband, Jack. After a particularly brutal attack, she is driven to offering him poison. With no memory of that night, she believes she has killed him, especially when she discovers the remains of a body buried in the byre.
In spite of her guilt at having taken another life, Chrissie eventually finds love again. Her strength, determination and love for her fellow islanders carry her through fourteen years of hardship, intercepted and exacerbated by the Great War.
But the past won’t stay buried, and fourteen years after that fateful night, Chrissie is forced to confront the nightmare that has overshadowed her life.
With the arrival of a letter, she discovers that nothing is as it seems. A series of events over which she has no control are set in motion. Lies and secrets are uncovered, leading to a dramatic and tragic climax.
Set partly in the Orkney Islands and partly in the notorious Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, ‘Broken Horizons’ is the sequel to ‘Follow the Dove’ and will hit the shops in early December.
In spite of her guilt at having taken another life, Chrissie eventually finds love again. Her strength, determination and love for her fellow islanders carry her through fourteen years of hardship, intercepted and exacerbated by the Great War.
But the past won’t stay buried, and fourteen years after that fateful night, Chrissie is forced to confront the nightmare that has overshadowed her life.
With the arrival of a letter, she discovers that nothing is as it seems. A series of events over which she has no control are set in motion. Lies and secrets are uncovered, leading to a dramatic and tragic climax.
Set partly in the Orkney Islands and partly in the notorious Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, ‘Broken Horizons’ is the sequel to ‘Follow the Dove’ and will hit the shops in early December.
259 pages, Paperback
First published December 11, 2012
25 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Catherine M. Byrne
13 books27 followersCatherine Byrne always wanted to be a writer. She began at the age of eight by drawing comic strips with added dialogue and later, as a teenager, graduated to poetry. Her professional life, however, took a very different path. She first studied glass engraving with Caithness Glass where she worked for fourteen years. During that time, she also worked as a foster parent. After the birth of her youngest child, she changed direction, studying and becoming a chiropodist with her private practice. At the same time, she did all the administration work for her husband's two businesses, and this continued until the death of her husband in 2005. However, she still maintained her love of writing and has had several short stories published in women's magazines. Her main ambition was to write novels and she has now retired to write full time.
Born and brought up until the age of nine on the Island of Stroma, she heard many stories from her grandparents about the island life of a different generation. Her family moved to the mainland at a time when the island was being depopulated, although it took another ten years before the last family left.
An interest in geology, history and her strong ties to island life have influenced her choice of genre for her novels.
Since first attending the AGM of the Scottish Association of Writers in 1999, she has won several prizes, and commendations and has been short-listed both for short stories and chapters of her novel. In 2009, she won second prize in the general novel category for ‘Follow The Dove’ and has since written four more novels in the series, The Broken Horizon, The Road to Nowhere, Isa’s Daughter, Mary Rosie’s War and, finally, Shadows of Scartongarth. She has attended an Arvon Foundation course and a Hi-Arts writing program, receiving positive feedback on her work from both.
Her Mother's family tree inspired her first series, and her father's family inspired her second, which starts in Ireland during the Great Famine.
Catherine Byrne lives in Wick, Caithness.
Born and brought up until the age of nine on the Island of Stroma, she heard many stories from her grandparents about the island life of a different generation. Her family moved to the mainland at a time when the island was being depopulated, although it took another ten years before the last family left.
An interest in geology, history and her strong ties to island life have influenced her choice of genre for her novels.
Since first attending the AGM of the Scottish Association of Writers in 1999, she has won several prizes, and commendations and has been short-listed both for short stories and chapters of her novel. In 2009, she won second prize in the general novel category for ‘Follow The Dove’ and has since written four more novels in the series, The Broken Horizon, The Road to Nowhere, Isa’s Daughter, Mary Rosie’s War and, finally, Shadows of Scartongarth. She has attended an Arvon Foundation course and a Hi-Arts writing program, receiving positive feedback on her work from both.
Her Mother's family tree inspired her first series, and her father's family inspired her second, which starts in Ireland during the Great Famine.
Catherine Byrne lives in Wick, Caithness.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 10, 2013
Review
Title: The Broken Horizon
Author: Catherine M. Byrne
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78088-496-7
Publisher: Matador
Published: 2013
Copyright © 2013
Incredible!
I need not say more, but to give Catherin M. Byrne credit I will complete this review in the normal style.
General Subject Matter: The life of a young woman in Scotland, her hardships, and her guilt.
Theme: Lifestyle of the early 20th century in Scotland.
Thesis: This book tells the story of Chrissie, a young woman who had a brief affair with Davie, the lead character of ‘Follow the Dove’. After Davie leaves the small island, Chrissie marries Jack Ried, a local fisherman who works hard, can make a good life for her, and give her the family she hopes to have. Soon after the wedding, Chrissie finds the true nature of Jack Ried, who beats her regularly when he is angry. After a particularly brutal beating, Chrissie realizes that Jack will kill her the next time he beats her. Driven to the farthest extreme, and fearing for her life, Chrissie decides that she must kill him first. A she is the local midwife, and healer for the island she knows which herbs can help an ailing person, and which will kill. She puts poison in his whiskey, and shortly afterwards he comes home and starts again. As she loses consciousness during her beating, she sees him stop for a drink, which is what he usually does, and then fall to the floor, dead from the poison. When she finally regains consciousness, she drags his body to the barn, and buries him.
This begins 20 years of guilt for Chrissie, and culminates in total fear, as she receives a letter in his handwriting, stating that he is coming back to the island to be with her.
The letter opens the book, and the reader is lead through the entire story by following her memories. Then, the most awful thing happens. Jack Ried returns to the Island, and brings tragedy to everyone as he invokes his plan to kill her.
In this story Catherin M. Byrne uses small descriptions in her narrative to bring a very personal touch to this Scottish island. Typically, she will not write anything like ‘night fell’, but something much more descriptive, ‘when night had squeezed out the last of the daylight,’ and this makes the story even more intense.
When I read ‘Follow the Dove’ I thought that it would be a long time before I read a story as good as Catherine M. Byrne had written, but I was wrong. ‘The Broken Horizon’ shows that Catherine M.Byrne can write great books, again, and again.
RB
Title: The Broken Horizon
Author: Catherine M. Byrne
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78088-496-7
Publisher: Matador
Published: 2013
Copyright © 2013
Incredible!
I need not say more, but to give Catherin M. Byrne credit I will complete this review in the normal style.
General Subject Matter: The life of a young woman in Scotland, her hardships, and her guilt.
Theme: Lifestyle of the early 20th century in Scotland.
Thesis: This book tells the story of Chrissie, a young woman who had a brief affair with Davie, the lead character of ‘Follow the Dove’. After Davie leaves the small island, Chrissie marries Jack Ried, a local fisherman who works hard, can make a good life for her, and give her the family she hopes to have. Soon after the wedding, Chrissie finds the true nature of Jack Ried, who beats her regularly when he is angry. After a particularly brutal beating, Chrissie realizes that Jack will kill her the next time he beats her. Driven to the farthest extreme, and fearing for her life, Chrissie decides that she must kill him first. A she is the local midwife, and healer for the island she knows which herbs can help an ailing person, and which will kill. She puts poison in his whiskey, and shortly afterwards he comes home and starts again. As she loses consciousness during her beating, she sees him stop for a drink, which is what he usually does, and then fall to the floor, dead from the poison. When she finally regains consciousness, she drags his body to the barn, and buries him.
This begins 20 years of guilt for Chrissie, and culminates in total fear, as she receives a letter in his handwriting, stating that he is coming back to the island to be with her.
The letter opens the book, and the reader is lead through the entire story by following her memories. Then, the most awful thing happens. Jack Ried returns to the Island, and brings tragedy to everyone as he invokes his plan to kill her.
In this story Catherin M. Byrne uses small descriptions in her narrative to bring a very personal touch to this Scottish island. Typically, she will not write anything like ‘night fell’, but something much more descriptive, ‘when night had squeezed out the last of the daylight,’ and this makes the story even more intense.
When I read ‘Follow the Dove’ I thought that it would be a long time before I read a story as good as Catherine M. Byrne had written, but I was wrong. ‘The Broken Horizon’ shows that Catherine M.Byrne can write great books, again, and again.
RB
April 24, 2013
Wow! What a book! Ms Byrne has produced a fine work of historical fiction, a kind of literary romance, underscored with mystery and a touch of terror. Its themes are domestic violence, the ravages of war and the role of society and its view of women in abusive marriages. These themes are treated with compassion and insight, and are never overdone.
The Broken Horizon is a moving portrayal of woman's life on a small island off the coast of Scotland early last century. It chronicles her marriage to a man who beats her and his disappearance on the night that Charlie, who cares deeply for her, finds her unconscious in the garden of her cottage. Christie thinks her husband Jack is dead, and she thinks she killed him. There is, after all, a body in the byre, in the shallow grave Jack meant for Charlie. Bit the book begins with her receiving a letter from Jack, saying that he is coming home. This sets the pall of mystery over the first two parts of the book. If Jack is alive, then where is he and who is the body in the barn?
We find some of the answers at the end of part two, but the tension doesn't break with the mystery, because Jack is indeed back, and now we wonder whether he will kill Chrissie and the children. The tension mounts with Jack's anger and the book races to a dramatic conclusion with a brief an unexpected metaphysical twist. Given the circumstances the book left our characters in, the epilogue was everything I hoped it would be. Healing can come from the most unexpected quarters.
Technically, I could not fault this book. The characters are very real, suited to their time period, well-fleshed and developed over time. I felt for Chrissie from the beginning, and even for her poor tormented husband. The plot is excellent, as is the pacing and dialogue, and the prose is excellent.
This is a brilliant book, but not the kind I actually enjoy, owing to my tendency to over identify with the characters and suffer their pain too acutely for comfort. There is a lot of fear and emotional pain in this story, including that of a serviceman returned from the First World War, and reading about it, especially when it is as sensitively written as this, tends to break my heart. It's because real people suffer these very same things and I feel for them. If you wonder why I give it 5 stars then, it's because it is quite simply an excellent book, and if you like books that make you feel deeply, then this is for you.
The Broken Horizon is a moving portrayal of woman's life on a small island off the coast of Scotland early last century. It chronicles her marriage to a man who beats her and his disappearance on the night that Charlie, who cares deeply for her, finds her unconscious in the garden of her cottage. Christie thinks her husband Jack is dead, and she thinks she killed him. There is, after all, a body in the byre, in the shallow grave Jack meant for Charlie. Bit the book begins with her receiving a letter from Jack, saying that he is coming home. This sets the pall of mystery over the first two parts of the book. If Jack is alive, then where is he and who is the body in the barn?
We find some of the answers at the end of part two, but the tension doesn't break with the mystery, because Jack is indeed back, and now we wonder whether he will kill Chrissie and the children. The tension mounts with Jack's anger and the book races to a dramatic conclusion with a brief an unexpected metaphysical twist. Given the circumstances the book left our characters in, the epilogue was everything I hoped it would be. Healing can come from the most unexpected quarters.
Technically, I could not fault this book. The characters are very real, suited to their time period, well-fleshed and developed over time. I felt for Chrissie from the beginning, and even for her poor tormented husband. The plot is excellent, as is the pacing and dialogue, and the prose is excellent.
This is a brilliant book, but not the kind I actually enjoy, owing to my tendency to over identify with the characters and suffer their pain too acutely for comfort. There is a lot of fear and emotional pain in this story, including that of a serviceman returned from the First World War, and reading about it, especially when it is as sensitively written as this, tends to break my heart. It's because real people suffer these very same things and I feel for them. If you wonder why I give it 5 stars then, it's because it is quite simply an excellent book, and if you like books that make you feel deeply, then this is for you.
May 30, 2013
Chrissie Reid is a broken and scared shadow of the woman she used to be. Her husband Jack, is evil, malicious and beats his wife for the simplest of things. One night Chrissie has been beaten within an inch of her life and resorts to poisoning Jack. Having found sanctuary in an old friend their relationship begins to grow and, with no recollection of what happened to her husband she is led to believe that she killed him. Rebuilding her life in a better way she carries on for years keeping the secret to herself, only to receive a letter one day that turns her whole world upside down. Living on a small Orkney island, things are hard for the islanders as the threat of the first world war creeps in but, more so for Chrissie as her secretly kept demons are escaping.
With unforeseen events happening throughout the book it constantly keeps your emotions on the go. Set in 1906 i really felt i was in the times with them as the characters are so well written and thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed this book it was not as i expected, it was great. The romantic side to the story outweighs the hardships that Chrissie faces making all her loss's easier to bare. There is so much more i would love to say about this book but i can't without giving too much away. A great read thank you.
With unforeseen events happening throughout the book it constantly keeps your emotions on the go. Set in 1906 i really felt i was in the times with them as the characters are so well written and thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed this book it was not as i expected, it was great. The romantic side to the story outweighs the hardships that Chrissie faces making all her loss's easier to bare. There is so much more i would love to say about this book but i can't without giving too much away. A great read thank you.
January 14, 2013
what a fantastic book, another great read by catherine m byrne follow the dove her other book was my favourite but this one come's a close second to it. She really made me feel that i was on the island with the characters and that gave me great joy as the orkney islands are my hearts desire to live in, could'nt put the book down finished it in three nights reading, can't wait for the next one
November 2, 2014
really good especially when its based on Orkney and I read it while on Orkney
March 3, 2019
Have read all the Raumsey series and maybe because they are local to me l loved them all
February 15, 2016
343pgs, historic romantic suspense, Chrissie Reid, a young battered wife living on a small Orkney island in 1906 finally turns on her husband, Jack. After a particularly brutal attack, she is driven to offering him poison. With no memory of that night, she believes she has killed him, especially when she discovers the remains of a body buried in the byre. With the arrival of a letter, she discovers that nothing is as it seems. A series of events over which she has no control are set in motion. Lies and secrets are uncovered, leading to a dramatic and tragic climax.
June 25, 2013
Well, I am the author so obviously I think it is great. Going by feed back I have had up until now (it has been an ebook for a couple of months) other people think it is too. but I will leave it up to the individual to make up their own minds.
Maybe I'm not supposed to comment on my own work, if not, I'm sure someone will let me know!
And if anyone knows how to add the cover please let me know.
Maybe I'm not supposed to comment on my own work, if not, I'm sure someone will let me know!
And if anyone knows how to add the cover please let me know.
October 2, 2022
Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include THE BROKEN HORIZON by CATHERINE BYRNE in the library of Awesome Indies'
Badge of Approval
recipients.
AIBA Book of the Week: 2 October, 2022: 114/41392
Selected as the AIBA Book of the day: 20 April 2021
AIBA Book of the Week: 2 October, 2022: 114/41392
Selected as the AIBA Book of the day: 20 April 2021
April 8, 2023
Ramsey book 2
Enjoyed this book from beginning to end .
Looking forward to book number 3 to see what happens next. Excellent.
Enjoyed this book from beginning to end .
Looking forward to book number 3 to see what happens next. Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews