My review on BEYOND THE FALL

 

Blurb:

Tamara Ledbetter, dumped by her arrogant husband, travels to Cornwall, England to research her ancestors. A trip first planned with her soon-to-be ex. In a neglected cemetery, she scrapes two fallen headstones together to read the one beneath, faints, and wakes up in 1789. Certain she’s caught up in a reenactment, she fast discovers she’s in the year of the French Revolution, grain riots in England, miners out of work, and she’s mistrusted by the young farmer, Colum Polwhele, who’s come to her aid. Can a sassy San Francisco gal survive in this primitive time where women have few rights? Could she fall for Colum, a man active in underhanded dealings that involve stolen grain, or will she struggle to return to her own time before danger stalks them both?

What would you do if you found yourself more than 200 hundred years in the past? 

That’s what Beyond the Fall’s main character, Tamara, has to figure out. Her marriage is irreparable. She needs a change in her life. But, she has a job and family she doesn’t want to leave behind. When she finds two headstones in a Cornish cemetery her wild ride begins.

I give the author an A in character development. By observing the behaviors of people in the past, Tamara gains a new perspective and better understanding of the situation she’s left in her own time.

One of the things I truly liked about the story: When Tamara tries to explain where she came from the two people she confides in don’t take her story hook-line-and-sinker. Another event final convinces them she isn’t completely off her rocker.

The second thing I appreciated: Unlike so many time travel stories, she gives an explanation for the portal that carries her character into the past. Is it a believable explanation? Not really – but this is fantasy/fiction, people. What do expect?

Here’s the biggest thing that sold me on this book: The dialogue. Her characters in the year 1789 spoke in perfect 18th-century dialogue. Try as she might, our 21st-century heroin often slipped up and has to cover her faux-pas. In her mind, she sounded as modern as you or I. This was an amazing juggling act for the author.

I wouldn’t want to leave out a little about the hero of the story, Colum. Not only is he incredibly hot, but also a man who fights for the down-trodden without fear. If I were to fall in love with an 18^th century man, I would hope it would be this guy.

So, does Tamara stay in the past with her new love where women have no rights – does she take him back to the present to reunite with her family where they’ll be safe – or do they part ways and return to the way things were before it all happened? I encourage you to read the book and find out.

I’m giving Beyond the Fall ***** (five stars).

To purchase Beyond the Fall, click

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HDFRLT4

And if you'd like to hear what inspired this gripping novel, visit this blog again on Wednesday when we'll have Diane Scott Lewis to tell the story.