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Beyond the Blue

By: Andrea MacPherson
Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
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Publisher's summary

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 can: 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.

©2007 Andrea MacPherson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
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Editorial reviews

Beyond The Blue is a tale both tragic and hopeful, dramatic and historic. In a wholly poetic tone, Carla Mercer-Meyer unleashes a forlorn beauty with her performance of Andrea MacPherson's work. Set in Dundee, a small Scottish mill town devoid of men - due to the Great War - the story follows four women who must survive the grueling conditions of a jute mill, failing health, and what feels like endless amounts of loss. With Ms. Mercer-Meyer's weighty voice, the presentation of the four women, is brilliant; in addition, it also evokes the sometimes overwhelming austerity of Dundee during this time. This is a beautiful story filled with courage and faith that can't be recommended enough.

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I really wanted to like this

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend the audible version.I'm only half way through so have yet to find out how the story concludes, but it is very slow moving. I'm hoping the end is worth waiting for.I'm an ex-pat Scot living in the USA and it pains me greatly to hear the butchered accents in this audible version of the book. I'm very tempted not to finish listening to it as it grates on my nerves. It is truly awful and the mispronunciation of place names, and words in general, is insulting - why not ask someone who knows before making it up?

Would you ever listen to anything by Andrea MacPherson again?

I'll withhold final judgement until I finish the book

Would you be willing to try another one of Carla Mercer-Meyer’s performances?

Not if she intends to pretend to talk Scots!!

Could you see Beyond the Blue being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Nope

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