Leslie Gould Beyond the Blue

Beyond the Blue

Leslie Gould

WaterBrook, Apr 2005, $13.99, 368 pp.

ISBN: 1578568226

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 storyline 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