A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea follows two families living on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the young woman who will call them both her own.

As German bombs fall over London in 1940, working-class parents Millie and Reginald Thompson make an impossible choice: they decide to send their eleven-year-old daughter, Beatrix, to America, where they hope she’ll stay safe. 

Bea arrives in Boston to meet the Gregorys, who fold her into their world. Before long, life in America feels more natural to her than her quiet, spare world back in England. The girl she had been begins to fade away until she is called home to London when the war ends.

As she returns to London, the memory of her American family stays with her, never fully letting her go as she tries to move on, pursuing love and a life of her own.

Following Bea over time, navigating between her two worlds, Beyond That, the Sea emerges as a beautifully written, absorbing novel, full of grace and heartache, forgiveness and understanding, loss and love.

PRAISE, PRESS, & REVIEWS

Amazon Editors’ Pick: Top 20 Debut Novels of 2023

Goodreads Choice Awards: Longlisted for Best Debut Novel and Best Historical Fiction

“The plot of Laura Spence-Ash’s BEYOND THAT, THE SEA is rooted in the home-front upheavals of World War II, but it’s also a timeless exploration of what it means to create a family, of how dreams can die and be reborn in surprising ways.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES

"A young woman’s family loyalties are divided as she leaves her London home for Boston during WWII in Spence-Ash’s magnetic debut... Readers will be riveted." 
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY STARRED REVIEW

"Quietly stunning, with finely drawn characters and vivid descriptions, Beyond That, the Sea is a gorgeous, elegiac, novel about loss, family and the complexity of love."
SHELF AWARENESS

“The novel is told so unusually..what’s so wonderful about it is that the chapters are incredibly short and yet it adds up, rather than impeding the story, to a prismatic whole that gives you a sense of all of these characters over several decades. I loved this book.”
Bill Goldstein, Bill’s Books, WNBC-NY

“Beautifully written and narrated, this audiobook presents two families who are impacted by war…Ell Potter's narration spans countries and decades as the story follows Bea and her connection to two families and two very different lives. Potter creates believable distinctions between well- developed characters of different ages from different locales. Listeners will be captivated by this compelling story.”
AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE, June 2023

“A evocative historical novel of a girl sent from wartime London in 1940 to live with an American family in New England, eight points of view of the lingering affection and melancholy of separation and survival.”
Susan Straight, 1001 Novels: A Library of America

“Spence-Ash has written the novel in eight points of view, but each character is utterly three-dimensional and distinct. This debut novel captivated me from start to finish."
JULIA QUINN, author of the Bridgerton Series, The Today Show

“It’s just a beautiful book to look at, it’s a beautiful book to read, and Laura Spence-Ash is a marvelous creator of character as well as a really dramatic storyteller making a family drama a real drama.”

BILL GOLDSTEIN, Just the Right Book Podcast with Roxanne Coady

"Readers will feel the pull of new fictional friends from the first to the last page, and long afterward....[in] this outstanding debut novelist's portrayal of her characters. Spence-Ash's first novel will appeal to fans of Pam Jenoff, Margot Livesey, and Ann Packer."
BOOKLIST

WRITERS TO WATCH IN SPRING 2023: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

INDIE NEXT PICK for April 2023

Amazon Editors’ Pick: Best Literature & Fiction

Laura Spence-Ash on Crafting an Epic Family Saga, An Interview with Jane Ciabattari, Literary Hub

Love, Friendship, and Postal Chess: An Interview with Laura Spence-Ash, Chicago Review of Books

Laura Spence-Ash Travels Back in Time: The Book Case podcast with Kate and Charlie Gibson

Interview with Laura Spence-Ash, Thoughts from a Page podcast

Interview with Laura Spence-Ash, BOOKTALK with Diana Korte

"Beyond That, the Sea is a shimmering dive into a lost past. With deft, beautiful prose, Laura Spence-Ash brings us into the worlds—both inner and outer—of two families in wartime, and over the years that follow. This novel is as haunting as it is accomplished."
MEG WOLITZER, The New York Times bestselling author of The Female Persuasion

"In this beautiful novel, Laura Spence-Ash renders the last century with painterly precision. Beyond That, the Sea tells the story of a British girl taken in by a prosperous New England family in the Second World War, and of the legacy of the intimate relationships that ensue — a story as rich and vital as life."
CLAIRE MESSUD, Bestselling author of The Emperor's Children and The Woman Upstairs

"This gorgeous novel, about the profound impact on children and families of even the most benign forms of displacement, marks the debut of a very gifted writer.  I adored Laura Spence-Ash's characters and deeply admired her precise, resonant prose.  Beyond That, the Sea is a marvel."
ANN PACKER, Author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and The Children’s Crusade

"Beyond That, the Sea is a lovely, addictive novel. I was absorbed by the interesting premise—an eleven year old girl arrives to live, temporarily, with a new family—and by the myriad love stories that change and deepen over the decades the novel covers. Laura Spence-Ash has written a gorgeous novel filled with wonderful characters."
ANN NAPOLITANO, Bestselling author of Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful

"What a wonderful novel! I loved Beatrix as a girl, discovering America, and perhaps even more as a young woman, back in post-war London. Spence-Ash writes with such insight about her characters on both sides of the Atlantic and she is a mistress of suspense. I was deeply sorry to reach the last page."
MARGOT LIVESEY, Author of The Boy in the Field

"In this exquisite novel, Laura Spence-Ash weaves a beautiful mosaic of voices, each a perfect postcard exploring home, love, loss and belonging that will entrance readers until the final, heartwarming page."
HANNAH TINTI, Author of The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley and The Good Thief

"I was utterly captivated by this beautiful story from the first page to the last. The characters are so real, their feelings so well portrayed that I had to keep reminding myself that I don’t actually know them. But I do! And I will return to the book to experience the well-wrought details of these lives again. This is a new favorite novel, and I can only hope Laura Spence-Ash has more coming soon."
ALICE ELLIOTT DARK, Author of Fellowship Point and In the Gloaming

BEYOND THAT, THE SEA on the Today Show