That was Beyond the Night for me.
Flowing between the present-day scene of a woman floating on a sea of darkness – at times almost drowning – and her husband groaning for her to wake from her coma, and a series of flashbacks in the 1970s, the real treasure for me were the scenes between Paul and Maddie in their twenties.
With graduation on the horizon, Maddie’s life seems to be following her orderly plan. Get her degree. Become a doctor. Get married.
Yes, things are going her way. Until she starts to lose her sight.
Paul realizes his love for Maddie on the same night she begins to lose her vision. But how can he convince her that everything will be okay when experience has taught him it won’t be?
Schalesky has an incredible talent for building emotion in her scenes that is an effortless journey for the reader, who then finds themselves on the edge of the cliff with Maddie – did Paul mean it when he said he loved her???
Paul’s indecision and heartache over the past also really touched me, as I tend to be an “overthinker” and relive past mistakes. But he definitely redeems himself through the end of the story!
Using delicately weaved-in details, Schalesky managed to bring the past to life, even to someone who wasn’t alive during the featured decade. I think these minute details are what also allowed this reader to feel so close to the characters, so entrenched in the scenes.
This was my first Schalesky read and I will definitely be looking for her other books. Highly recommended.
