Beyond the Blue

by Andrea MacPherson

In a Scottish mill town purged of men by war, four unforgettable women navigate a treacherous time, guided only by the bonds of family and their bold dreams of escape.

In 1918, rainy Dundee is nearly emptied of men. The Great War has left the town’s women both newfound freedom and servitude. They toil in the deadly jute mills, taking in the children of perished family members and praying their own bodies – and spirits – do not fail them too.

A grateful widow of the war, Morag shelters her daughters as best she beautiful Caro schemes to escape the working class with well-calculated seduction, while Wallis works in the mill alongside her mother, slowly fortifying both spirit and pocketbook for a more radical departure. Morag’s orphaned niece, Imogen, seeks to understand her fragile mother’s death, and the return of the father who abandoned them.

Infused with the longing, courage and passion of its indelible cast of characters, and steeped in the faith and terrors of its time – from the suffragettes and the Easter Uprising to the influenza pandemic and the Tay Bridge disaster – Beyond the Blue is a lyrical, reflective novel about finding purpose and freedom in a place without hope.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 16, 2007

About the author

Andrea MacPherson, poet and novelist, is the author of six books: three novels, What We Once Believed, Beyond the Blue, and When She Was Electric, and three poetry collections, Ellipses, Away, and Natural Disasters. Her poetry has been anthologized in the UK publication, How the Light Gets In.

When She Was Electric was listed No. 6 on CBC Canada Reads: People’s Choice; Natural Disasters was longlisted for the 2008 ReLit Awards. Andrea holds an MFA from the Creative Writing Department at the University of British Columbia, where she was Editor of Prism International. She has also acted as the Reviews Editor for Event Magazine. She teaches Creative Writing and Literature at the University of the Fraser Valley.

Reviews

[Leya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was wandering up and down the aisles at the library when this book caught my attention. Actually it was cover that caught my attention. It's such a beautiful cover, there's sadness in the girls eyes and I couldn't leave the library without the book.

And just like the cover, the book itself is beautiful and sad. But there was also hope. The women in the story were amazing. The mother, Morag is a very hard working woman who is ill, but doesn't want her girl to suspect how bad (health wise) she truly is. Caro, the eldest daughter wants more to her life than working in a factory, she wants money, and she's not afraid to follow her dream. Wallis, is hiding a secret that may hurt her mother; Wallis also dreams of leaving Dundee. And then there's Imogen, she's having a hard time remembering her mother, there's an terrible secret that her family is keeping from her and she wants to know what it is.

It was such such an emotional read but at the end it had that silver lining, it was worth the wait.

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores a time wrought with pain and suffering: the characters go through the Spanish influenza, the Industrial Revolution, the World War, and the rise of the suffragettes. The hidden secrets of private lives unfold in the pages of Beyond the Blue, secrets not shared until too late, secrets that harm, and secrets that fester in fear. And yet, remarkably, there is love: love for sisters and cousins and mothers, love for those whose hands we hold in times of strife.

[A. Mussbacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful prose and wonderful characters. I suddenly have the desire to visit Scotland and Ireland now, but I feel as though I've already lived there just from reading this book. Bitter sweet. It had me crying by the end. Definitely worth a reread.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. The author had such a poetic style of writing. The imagery was so beautiful and heartwrenching and the story was written with an underlying of hope and possibilites. It was a great read.

[Karin Millan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Dundee Scotland back in 1911 this is why i liked it. Brought the old country and the way of living during the ist world war home to me.