Once Beyond a Time

Author: Ann Tatlock
Genre: Historical Fiction

It’s 1968, and Sheldon and Meg Crane have just moved their family from Pennsylvania to the small town of Black Mountain, NC. Sheldon, recently ousted from the ministry due to an illicit affair, takes a job as a used car salesman at his brother-in-law's auto dealership. Burdened by his wife’s unforgiveness and his daughter’s resentment over the move to “Barney Fife country”, Sheldon finds a measure of solace in his eight-year-old son’s ability to cope. After settling into an old house high on the side of a mountain, the family discovers their new home is no ordinary place. Family members occasionally see and speak with the home’s previous residents ⎯ and the ones who will live there in the future. While attempting to come to terms with this portal in the past and future, their son, Digger, suddenly disappears. Was he kidnapped or did Digger wander off into the mountains and become lost? The answer lies in a place once beyond a time ⎯ in a realm where the mysterious power of forgiveness removes sorrow and heals even the most egregious sins.

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Reviewer: Laura J. Davis

Once Beyond a Time by award-winning author Ann Tatlock should come with a warning - "Once begun you will be unable to put it down." I loved everything about this book. The characters were real and well developed, the settings clearly described and the story was incredible. I loved that each chapter would be coming at  you from the point of view of a different character. For instance, how did Meg feel about Sheldon's marital infidelity? We find out. How did Sheldon feel? He tells us in his own words and their teenager, Linda? Well - she has some serious issues to deal with.

I thought this was a time-travel novel at first, but it is far more unique than that. The characters find themselves living in a house where all time intersects - The Eternal Now. Whoever lived in the house in the past or future can appear at a moment's notice - like a ghost. And the relationships that develop between the Crane family and those from the past and future will keep you reading long into the night.

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