Overseas

I am a big Beatriz Williams fan. I’ve read all her books, starting with 100 Summers. I had seen Overseas and avoided it because a lot of the reviews said it wasn’t like her other books. I finally decided to check it out, and I’m SO GLAD I DID. Let me say, this book has its little faults and slight inconsistencies, but they are so easy to forgive and what I took away from the story sticks with me. The highlight of the book is how richly Julian’s character is developed - Williams took us back in time convincingly with the subtleties of his speech, his manners and ideals. Kate is spirited, I’ll give her that, and I love her inner monologue, but the shining star is really Julian. I suppose I’m a little in love with him in the way we love Mr. Darcy - as a literary hero. The story goes back and forth between 1916 in France during WWI and 2008 New York City, Wall Street. The most compelling parts of the book in my view are the historical glimpses - when Kate goes back in time to find Julian and warn him of what the future holds. Williams paints the scene with thoughtful historical details and brings the two lovers together with a beautifully desperate yearning. It’s one of the most sensual books I’ve ever read without having any graphic sex scenes - Williams hints and dances around it and it’s somehow even more satisfying. I’m a huge Diana Gabaldon fan and that woman can write love scenes like no one else, and I can definitely still appreciate Williams more subtle scenes. Please read this book and just forgive the little problems - you will not regret it!

Billed as a time traveling love affair in the great tradition of " The Time Traveler's Wife  and  Time and Again , this novel fails to match those distinguished precursors. The setup is intriguing and the book begins with great promise, but the gushing and ultimately unrealistic male lead failed to either convince or entrance me -- and ultimately started getting on my nerves.We begin in Amiens, France in 1916 with a young woman, Kate Wilson, waiting outside the cathedral to meet a young British office, Captain Julian Ashford. She apparently knows him - but he does not know her.Then we shift forward to 2008. The same Kate Wilson is an analyst for a Wall Street brokerage while the same Julian is the billionaire head of a major hedge fund. When the two meet again, he apparently knows her - but she does not know him. And from this, we the readers learn that Julian has managed to travel forward from the trenches of World War I to Wall Street -- while Kate has managed to achieve the same journey in the opposite direction.This raises the question, when did the two actually meet? When Kate sees Julian in 1916, she already knows him - or at least a 12-years older version of him. And when Julian meets Kate in New York, he has already met her. Did they ever meet when neither one of them knew the other?Suspension of disbelief is essential in the genre of time travel so I put this down as part of the fun. The problems start mounting when the two fall in love. Julian is so effusive, so over-the-top - so utterly un-British -- that he began to make me cringe. Every sentence is filled with endearments - "darling, angel, sweetheart, precious one, life of my life" and most annoying of all "little minx."When the subject turns to sex, the yuck quotient rises although the author avoids actually descriptions of the act of love. But what she does say, in her allusive, Victorian way, still amounts to too much. Julian, describing his carnal experiences to his beloved: "Kate, this ... this passion, this desire to carry you off to bed, make you cry out again with that lovely feral howl of yours..."I should also say that there is not much sense of place in this book, especially in the scenes in France which are pallid. The author has read her Wilfred Owen - but obviously has not really understood it. The loss of an entire generation of young men, the appalling cost of that war, is never sufficiently acknowledged.I wanted to love this book - but I'm left at the end crying out with an unlovely feral howl of frustration.

I read 2 other novels by this author. I enjoyed both very much. This book, however, was not her best. It had many concerning issues. Part of the problem is the unbelievable characters and their unrelenting love for one another. It's a sweet idea, but just isn't reality based. I realize the author was trying to show the difference between people of the early 1900's versus those from 100 years later. But I found the formal English spoken by Julian, and the poor modern speak of Kate to be far too extreme for these 2 to ever really have a connection. Furthermore, I don't understand why a love story always has to have a gorgeous billionaire in it. It would be nice if people could love deeply because of a connection that is not based on physicality or wealth. The author wants you to believe that this is the case between these 2. And it is stated over and over again by Kate that she is not with this man for his wealth (but she is because of his beauty?). The time travel aspect is not explained well. I kept reading to get a better understanding of it all, but really felt as confused by the end. I found the supporting characters bland, and the historical sections of the story lacking. Clearly, by reading the reviews, there is an audience for a book like this. It is a good escapist novel, not to be taken too seriously.

While you get a great feeling of the characters, this book was very drawn out - it didn't need to be this long. And I did get to a point where it was "I get it, you two love eachother...". With that said, the writing is lovely and you do feel like you are part of the book - but didn't need it to be as long as it was for the story to be told.

I found that even though I found it very different from Beatrix Williams other books, I was unable to put this book down. I am always drawn to the idea of time travel and love through time. Ms Williams set this book in 1916 and 2007. It is a love story with many twists and turns plus action and rather evil plots. Her characters were motivationally complex.I recommend this book for those who like time travel and can handle lots of sex and some unfortunate language.

As a debut novel I am amazed this gushing romantic rubbish was printed. Beatrix goes on to write some cracking stories, so I will donate this to a charity shop and move on.....

Very muddled schmaltz, nothing like her other novels which were more cohesive and simply enjoyable reads. I just feel the author coud have done so much more with basic subject matter

Having loved some other books of hers I bought this without checking. Amazon blurb gave me no idea it was a time travel story. I just cannot do those. Just shows you should always check the categories if there are genres you really do not like.

This book went on forever with a hard to swallow love-story and very little plot. Very repetitious and not really interesting. A shame, I was hoping for more...

The plot is bizarre and the characters annoying. I found the trivialising of major traumatic events (WW1, miscarriage, unfair dismissal to name but a few) the most disgraceful of all the flaws in this book.