Land Beyond the Sea
Description
**CANADA BOOK AWARD WINNER**
**NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS FINALIST, HISTORICAL FICTION**
**BEST ATLANTIC-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARD FINALIST**
In the small hours of October 14, 1942, a German U-boat sank the passenger ferry SS Caribou in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Of the 237 people on board, 136 perished, including 49 civilians. In Land Beyond the Sea, bestselling author Kevin Major reimagines the events of that fateful night from the perspectives of both those aboard the doomed vessel and the German U-boat commander who gave the order. With his characteristically sharp, evocative prose style, Major delivers an epic work of historical fiction, detailing a life-and-death conflict in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Land Beyond the Sea is a powerful and empathetic testament to the acts of destruction and the acts of heroism carried out in the name of home.
Awards
- Short-listed, Best Atlantic-Published Book Award 2020
- Short-listed, Next Generation INDIE Book Award, Historical Fiction 2020
- Winner, Canada Book Award 2020
Reviews
"It's immediately apparent that Major did a lot of research to write this book. His most casual descriptions are strikingly authentic and the focus is wide-ranging. Whether standing on the bridge of the Caribou or peering through the periscope of U-69, the reader is plunged into the surroundings... Land Beyond the Sea is a crackling read that invokes both sympathy and empathy for the people on both sides of the conflict. It's quite an achievement on Major's part."
- Denise Flint
“…a startlingly good feat of historical fiction.”
- The Miramichi Reader
"[Kevin Major] describes the protagonists of both sides, Germans and allies alike, with great empathy . . . his approach is profoundly humanistic."
- Christian Adam, German scholar and author of "Lesen unter Hitler (Reading under Hitler. Authors, bestsellers, readers in the Third Reich)"
"Meticulously researched and seamlessly blended historical fact and Kevin Major's fiction, Land Beyond the Sea was a great read."
- Atlantic Book Reviews
“Seeing the island [of Newfoundland] for the first time, the German [commander, Ulrich Gräf,] is captivated by its coastline and 'lofty cliffs indomitable'; he wants to roam the island with a sketchbook, an appreciation that will likely endear him to Newfoundland readers.”
- Tracy Whalen