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An epic story of star-crossed lovers in pre-war Europe collides with a woman on the run in the swinging ’60s, in another riveting novel of the Schuyler sisters from the New York Times bestselling author of Tiny Little Thing.
“Along The Infinite Sea” is a great story. It travels between pre World War II and the 1960s. Our players are Annabelle and her story begins in Paris in 1937. She is married to a high-ranking German officer, Johann Von Kleist, a widower with children that he loves and adores. Annabelle is pregnant with her lover’s child, he is Stefan, a wealthy Jew operating between France and Germany and she is so in love with him that it is painful. At 19 years of age, she was willingly seduced by Stefan but he had to return to Germany to settle affairs and promised he would come back for her but that never transpired and Von Kleist is so in love with her that he persuades her to marry him and he will be the father to her unborn child. That is just the first few chapters!
Moving forward in time we meet Pepper Schuyler, pregnant with a very well-known senator’s baby who wants her to terminate the pregnancy, or allow his family to adopt the child. Her answer is a resounding no. Her own family is dysfunctional at best and she has concerns for hers and her baby’s life. However, enter “the car,” found in an old shed on her aunt’s property. With the help of a friend, the wonderful old car is restored and she auctions it. Who buys it? Annabelle. We discover that it is the same car that took her and her children out of Germany as the Jews were being exterminated and the trains were taking them to their deaths.
So we have a wonderful story that transcends all barriers and breaks all hearts. The story revolves around these two remarkable women and while Annabelle is the central character here, the intertwining of their lives is pure magic. I could not put the book down and to be perfectly honest, that is a sentence I very rarely say. This story is a touch of genius and to author Beatriz Williams I say, “More! I need more. You left far too much unsaid, bad girl!”
Available in bookstores August 9th
