"Beyond All Dreams" by Elizabeth Camden

Beyond All Dreams (Jan. 6, 2015) by Elizabeth Camden.*

Smart. Bookish. Practical. Quiet. Those attributes describe Anna O’Brien perfectly, and she is content with her life as a map librarian at the most illustrious library in the country, the Library of Congress. It’s the fall of 1897, and as a woman holding such a position in a workplace, she feels quite honored. Working in a library is her dream job, but the pitfall to working in the Library of Congress stems from the amount of requests-like-demands she must field when a politician is searching for a certain map. And no one rankles her more or attracts her so like Luke Callahan, an impetuous, arrogant and handsome congressman from Maine. Anna wants to discover the truth behind the Culpeper’s purported sinking for personal reasons, and Luke wants to dissuade the Speaker of the House’s supporters by having Anna do his research.

            Anna wants to conduct research of her own, but her research steps on the toes of the navy, and they do not downplay their ferocity at her intrusive ways. Anna turns to Luke for assistance, though amidst his own scandals and struggle with anger management, his assistance may be less than helpful. And feelings. She may be mum on voicing hers, but he believes in coup de foudre – “force of lightning” – or love at first sight.

            Secrets are involved in the answers that Anna wants, and she may discover the  truth is more painful than ignorance. Is love stronger than the answers Anna seeks? Is love stronger than Luke’s political ambitions?

            Dramatic. Inspirational. Intriguing. These words describe this story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It also reads as historically competent, but I’m no history buff, so I will leave that exacting conclusion to those who are. This story is a tale of love, yes, but love amongst two imperfect people in a nation on the brink of war where peacemakers root for peace among hecklers, an impressionable young man stumbles when a failure occurs out of passion, and technology advances. Anna, by-the-way, loves the modernizing technology (“It’s called a flashlight”), and she has her childhood friend, Neville Bernhard, to thank for the connection to it, as he works in the US Patent Office. At the heart of the book is the relationship between Anna and Luke, which Camden has mapped out meticulously, and her characters are described in such detail that I feel like I have a sense of who each character is (even the minor ones). “Beyond All Dreams” is sharp with gentility, outbursts, wit, life lessons and inspirational wisdom.

Favorite Line: “I may look skinny and weak, but if you hurt Anna,

I will metaphorically kill you, burn your village, and

sow your fields with salt. Is that clear?” --Neville

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”