Re-Read Challenge: “Beyond Sunrise” By Candice Proctor

Info:Re-Read Challenge 2009
This month:Re-Read Challenge: August!

GENRE: Romance / Historical
PUBLISHED: Bellantine Books, 2003

AVAILABILITY: still available

Can life ever be a real adventure without falling in love?

Ever since she can remember, India McKnight has craved adventure, dreaming of lands past the horizon. Following her calling, she becomes a travel writer, a vocation that takes her far and wide. All the while, she vows never to risk her freedom by falling in love. But when she sails to the exotic and unknown regions of the South Pacific, a rugged man brave enough to be her guide just may be the one who can lay claim to her heart.

Having turned his back on the “civilized” world long ago, Jack Ryder has been living in seclusion, hiding from the pain and betrayal buried in his past. When the beautiful, hotheaded Scotswoman arrives at his hut looking for a guide, he agrees to take her to the island of Takaku–despite the challenge–just to prove that her stubborn theories about native life are wrong. But when their journey turns dangerous, their fates become forever entwined. Forced to rely on each other for their very survival, they soon discover that passion and even deeper peril await them . . . just beyond the sunrise.

Then

Beyond Sunrise was my first novel by Candice Proctor and I loved it. To this day, I’m still a bit miffed that I didn’t glom all her books back then when they all were still available. I have two others by her, but sadly, I don’t have Whispers of Heaven.

Now

Calling Beyond Sunrise a historical romance is a bit misleading in that it’s far from what you’re used from a historical romance. No England, no regency, no drawing rooms, no balls. Beyond Sunrise takes place in the South Pacific and it reads like an adventure novel. Think African Queen or Romancing the Stone (without Michael Douglas trying to trick Kathleen Turner). There’s even a dance scene!

India McKnight might be a somewhat unusual woman for her time. Single, traveling alone, working as a travel writer. But she’s also a proper lady to the nth degree, with exact ideas about behavior. For example, she wears several petticoats despite the oppressing heat because that is what ladies do. She’s practical, no-nonsense, and she’s used to getting her way which means for the first chapters, she has a tendency to do things even though she’s told they would be dangerous. What saves her from being an annoying spunky heroine IMO then is a) she’s so used to do things her way; b) she doesn’t trust Jack very much; c) Candice Proctor is a good writer.

If you’re a bit impatient with India, I would say stick with her. Especially because this novel has several scenes where India is faced with the decision of what to do: leave Jack or stay with him? And every time this happens, it’s also a decision between danger and safety. Each of India’s decisions chronicles the progression of her relationship with Jack right up to the last decision when Jack asks her to marry him. Of course, India’s baggage about relationships and marriage (thanks to her parents) makes this question a question of safety and danger, too, and the way this eventually is resolved is very fitting and satisfying.

Jack Ryder is a man with quite a dubious reputation and quite often, he’s drunk. He’s also a wanted man. He’s thought responsible for a ship wreck several years ago that cost the lives of nearly all the ship’s crew. India’s first impression of Jack is that he’s gone “troppo,” meaning a white man who had “abandoned the trappings of Western civilization and assumed the clothing and lifestyle of the natives” (34).

Over the course of the story, Jack’s reasons why he is the way he is, why he lives the way he does, and the question of his guilt is revealed. Jack has some decisions to make, too, and some things to face, and it’s just beautiful that India helps him as he does help her.

India goes from being a woman who craves freedom and adventure above all else and who looks like this:

It was a bloody missionary, all right, Jack decided, frowning at the woman who sat ramrod straight at the prow of the longboat, her gloved hands gripping the handle of an austere parasol, the collar of her ugly, drab-colored gown buttoned up so high around her neck he wondered it didn’t choke her. (13/14)

to a woman who lets go of her rigid control and rules of behavior along with some layers of her clothes. Not because she’s gone troppo, but because she has discovered life:

Over her shoulder, her gaze met his again. She saw the flash of his smile in the flaring of the torchlight, felt the warmth of his breath against her cheek. The beat of the drums mingled with the crash of the surf and the haunting, unearthly wail of the conch shell, And she thought, This is life. This is life as in the past I might have recorded it, written about it. But never lived it. Not until now. (330)

India discovers life thanks to Jack’s help, and Jack regains his life, which he put on hold because of what happened in his past, thanks to India’s help (I actually think it’s more Jack’s story than India’s story). Despite all outward appearances, they have something in common and watching India and Jack discover the person underneath the other’s appearance and finding someone they could love was beautifully done. Jack is carefree in many things but once he’s made up his mind about India, he’s steadfast in his devotion and intentions to India.

Beside the lovely romance, the most captivating element of this story for me was the look it takes at the notion of civilization. It’s no wonder the word was mentioned in the blurb. The theme of civilization is present in nearly every element of the story. Its importance is underscored by a secondary plot concerning Jack’s former friend Simon, the Captain tasked with bringing Jack in, and Simon’s First Lieutenant Alex Preston.

Like India, Preston is rigid and proper, with a clear idea of what is right and what is wrong. For him, there are no grays. He also has to prove himself because he’s got his position only because the Captain of the ship Jack is thought responsible for sinking was related to him. So Preston has a very keen interest in apprehending Jack. And like India, he has to learn a thing or two about life.

And although this comment is already long, I have to mention the evocative scene descriptions in this novel. The humidity, the smells, the flora–I could see it all. The same way I could see how such two opposite characters like India and Jack could fall in love with each other thanks to the adventure they find themselves in. It gave them the chance to look beneath the surface and discover a new life together.

Verdict: I was undecided about the grade for this novel. But while writing this post, I discovered that there is no way I could give it 4,5/5. It’s such a beautifully written novel, IMO. 5/5