Something Beyond the Sky

Siri L. Mitchell
Harvest House Publishers (2006)
ISBN 0736916377
Reviewed by Kim Peterson for Reader Views (1/07)

Military spouses often face new settings and the need to develop new friendships. Anne, Rachel, Karen, and Beth accept an invitation to attend a tea hosted by the Officers’ Spouses Club (OSC). The four women want to represent their husbands well and meet expectations, yet limit their OSC involvement. They each sign up for the food committee hoping they have chosen an easy task.

The four women meet at the first committee meeting, and discover they have nothing in common but their role as military wives and this OSC commitment. They come from different backgrounds and religions and their first impressions aren’t promising. But the ensuing year draws the women together into life-changing friendships. Together they weather challenges that test their marriages, their character and their faith.

Newlywed Anne adjusts to an interracial marriage and job difficulties. Karen struggles with an eating disorder and her failure to meet the exacting standards of her religion. Wealthy Rachel tries to keep her marriage together when money can’t meet their emotional needs. Beth misses the military career she sacrificed to raise her children. Their realistic struggles with racial discrimination, religious searching, and marital and parental discontent are exacerbated by the unique demands of military life.

The author, a military wife, explores the dynamics of friendship under the duress of spouses serving in the armed forces yet finds common ground with female readers who lack the emotional support of living near family. Mitchell examines how friendships with those who are different from us broaden and deepen us; how good friends help us grow into better people. She also skillfully uses flashbacks to reveal how each woman became who she is and how she met her spouse. She pushes the story past the exploration of friendship to consider the stresses faced by marriages today and how faith provides hope and healing. Mitchell’s novel, “Something Beyond the Sky,” reminds readers to nurture their marriages, to find contentment in the present, and to enjoy good friends.

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