Beyond the Blue [Paperback]

Leslie Gould (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 2005

Two Worlds. Two Women. One Love.

In 1975, an American girl named Genevieve loses her mother when a plane full of orphans crashes in war-ravaged Vietnam. Miles away in the countryside, seven-year-old Lan, a Vietnamese girl, is forced out of her family home by her own brother who has joined the Viet Cong. Worlds apart, these two girls come into womanhood struggling to recover a sense of family–until their journeys suddenly converge.

Lan has grown up in the harsh realities of post-war Vietnam, but she yearns for a better life for her children. Meanwhile, Genevieve marries and, faced with infertility, decides to adopt a child from the country her own mother loved so deeply. But the uncertainty and risk of international adoption threatens to overwhelm both women before their hearts and their families can be healed.

Beyond the Blue is the story of enormous losses, unthinkable choices, and the transforming power of God's love for the children of the world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Vietnam War shatters the lives of two families thousands of miles apart in this uneven novel by Gould (Garden of Dreams). In 1975, 10-year-old American Gen experiences terrible heartache when her mother, who has gone to Vietnam to adopt a young boy, is killed in a war-related plane crash. Meanwhile, in Vietnam seven-year-old Lan witnesses her nation's bloody civil war splitting her own family right down the middle, resulting in displacement and destitution. Gould nimbly follows the two characters to adulthood, when Lan's intense poverty forces her to make the difficult choice to give two of her children up for adoption, and the infertile Gen comes to Vietnam with her husband, Jeff, to adopt them. The pacing begins to drag halfway through, as Gen and Jeff experience innumerable delays and complications with the Vietnamese government. Despite the slow momentum, many readers will appreciate this emotionally satisfying story of hope, adoption and new beginnings. (Apr. 19)

From Booklist

Genevieve's most harrowing memory is of 1975, when her mother died in the attempt to get an adopted Amerasian son out of a Vietnam on the brink of civil war. Meanwhile, young Lan grows up in crushing poverty in Vietnam. She's so poor, in fact, that, in the 1980s, she's forced to give up her children. Enter the adult, infertile Genevieve, still dealing with her childhood losses. While the story sounds sentimental, it's grounded in the reality of both countries, and Gould spends a lot of time on the nightmarish complexities of adopting a child from Vietnam. John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (April 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578568226
• ISBN-13: 978-1578568222
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,914,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars two women co-joined by family tragedy in Viet Nam, June 16, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Blue (Paperback)

In 1975, ten years old American Genevieve learns that her mother died in a war related plane crash in Viet Nam while trying to adopt a child. At about the same time, not that far away, the civil war destroys the family of seven years old Vietnamese Lan when her brother, a Viet Cong soldier, drives them out of their home.

Years later partially in homage to her mother, infertile Gen accompanied by her spouse Jeff come to Viet Nam to adopt. Though she detests doing so, an impoverished Lan gives up two of her children for adoption so they have a chance for a better life. Separately impacted by the war, Lan and Gen will soon meet with both still trying to make sense out of what happened to their families back in 1975.

BEYOND THE BLUE is an intriguing tale of two women from differing backgrounds co-joined by family events in Viet Nam almost two decades earlier. The story line follows the preadolescents as they grow up in radically dissimilar environments, but the tragedies of 1975 haunting both of them until they converge as adults. Ironically though quite realistic, the pace shows down when Gen and her husband struggle through delays, detours and unnecessary impediments caused by the unsympathetic Communist government, which in turn adds plenty of realism. Leslie Gould writes a strong two women character study that provides her audience with a fine story that nurtures hope in the future.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and extremely well-written, December 20, 2006

By 

Kathi Macias (Homeland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Blue (Paperback)

What an incredible interweaving of lives and cultures! Leslie Gould writes with amazing fluidity and a depth of understanding of the painful yet joyful emotions involved in adoption, as well as the contrasting elements of culture in a prosperous America and a war-torn and poverty-stricken Vietnam. And yet, with all the differences in lifestyle, the author manages to bring about a meeting of the hearts that culminates in lives that are changed forever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great book, September 7, 2005

By 

S. Reeder "scrwildcat" (Fayetteville, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Blue (Paperback)

Having adopted from Vietnam, this book was so real. But even for those who have not adopted, the story really helps one see the paradox of adoption, a child given up by a birth mother, yet adopted by a forever family. I couldn't put the book down and it brought all the sights, sounds, and smells back from Vietnam.