Beyond the Bright Sea
By: Lauren Wolk / Narrated By: Jorjeana Marie / Epilogue By: Lauren Wolk
Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
Yeh yeh yeh—a caveat here, a caveat there, but mostly? Lovely…
Okay, lemme fiiiiirst say that I liked Beyond the Bright Sea, as a whole… -but- I’m gonna just let out a howl of disgust, same howl I’ve done a gazillion (And six!) times: Oh. My. Good golly gosh!!! Oh the things, the extraordinarily BAD things that are simply unforeseen when you’ve had a good and happy childhood! Jeez, I wanted to throttle either character Crow for saying, or author Lauren Wolk for writing, “Don’t worry. Nothing bad is going to happen.” P’raps that’s not the exact quote? But lemme tell ya, those two sentences made me wanna smack SOMEbody upside the head. Cuz you see, if you’ve had a happy childhood you (Apparently…) do NOT see tigers hiding behind bushes everywhere that’ll tear ya limb from limb, and you do NOT have Bounce Back skills, a sense of resilience, even though Wolk writes everything so this book ends with a snappy happy little bowtie around it.
Boy, do I feel MUCH better getting that scream outta m’ lungs.
Onto the story.
Crow is a young girl whose start in life was as an abandoned baby in a skiff, found screeching herself hoarse, and taken in and raised by Osh. Osh is a man of few words who has forsaken the world for the quiet and solitude of a small piece of Cuttyhunk, part of the Elizabeth Islands of Massachusetts. He has a past he speaks of only here and there, is bitter about his experiences, has no faith in mankind. But he’s wise, and as he raises Crow, he answers her questions in a way that SHOULD suit her, raise her to think properly.
Alas, they do not. Crow is hungry for clues to who she really is, forgetting that she’s Crow and thinking there must be sooo much more to her history, to her story. Especially as people on the main part of the island are afraid of her, wipe doorknobs after she’s touched them, won’t let her go to school. Why?
-Because- they think the only place she could’ve come from is the nearby island of Penikese, a lonely place that once was “home” for a colony of lepers from all across the world. Tho’ Crow has never shown symptoms, the townsfolk are fearful of her. She’s an Untouchable.
This doesn’t truly bother Crow; she just wants to know who her family was. Sloooowly, after relentless badgering, Osh begins to share what he knows and he, along with the feisty and loving Miss Maggie from across the way, are fielding questions left and right, or assisting her as she writes letters full of questions for a doctor and a nurse who worked at the island. Clues start assembling themselves, and Crow is full-on into her search.
During a quick visit to Penikese, the trio are met by the island’s new caretaker, in charge of helping birds and rabbits to thrive on the empty land. He’s a trifle grouchy… and then things hit the fan.
There’s plenty of character development to love here, and as the story picks up speed and wanders further into quests and complications, there are also action sequences. Where I wanted to, as I mentioned, THROTTLE Crow. Osh and Miss Maggie? Wise Wise Wise. Does Crow pay any attention? Not one bit, and she makes SUCH poor choices that she endangers them all. Uhm, actually, she kinda sorta endangers the entire community, now that I consider it, so Booooo!!!
There were plenty of points where I thought things were going to turn out so very predictably, and they did not. So thanks very much, Wolk, for not going with the painfully easy. Indeed, as Osh and Miss Maggie prove themselves to be right on each occasion, it was gratifying to see that Crow actually absorbed some of these lessons -and- it was sooo nice to have a few issues raised regarding what makes a Family and what constitutes Love and Loyalty. How to say it? A nice big fat lump in my throat, which is ALWAYS gratifying to this dweeb who sooo loves to tear up!
Jorjeana Marie was quite simply AWEsome. Tho’ I did wonder if she had a head cold, just cuz I’m kinda a toad that way (No offense to toads) and nitpick like crazy when it comes to narration, she did the variety of characters and genders well, and she handled the tension in the action scenes with fraught emotions and with perfect pacing. Yeh yeh yeh, of COURSE I had my listening speed already up, but that’s just what I do. I don’t fault Marie for my all-antsy twitchiness for that.
Stay for the Epilogue, read by Wolk herself, as it’s quite interesting. This is a blend of honest to God facts and stuff that’s enTIREly from Wolk’s vivid imagination. That the leper colony had to be relegated to the other side of the island is the stuff of heartbreak, but we mustn’t have the pleasures of the wealthy vacationers see any trace of suffering as they stay at luxurious hotels, peering onto the “nice” side of the island across the way. Also nice to know that Miss Maggie (And Mouse!) came along as character(s) who added much to the story.
This is my second Lauren Wolk audiobook, and whereas I neither liked nor reviewed the first I listened to? Well, if the main character is NOT raised in a perfectly loving and accepting home, making her a total goober, I think I’ll give Wolf Hollow a try.
And dude! ya KNOW I’ll be bellowing m’ lungs out at ya if things start off in utter perfection with that one!!!
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