Customer Reviews

Where Yesterday Lives

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A scattered family is drawn together when the father dies. Four sisters, a brother, and their grieving mother are forced to face the past demons that haunt them and have made them a most disfunctional family in this moving, tear jerking novel. Sibling rivalry, temptation, and buried secrets come against this family as long held resentments are forced to the surface and arguments and tempers flare over the smallest things.

Amidst this ballistic scenario, one of the sisters, Ellen, is reunited with a lost love, at the worst possible time. Her marriage is troubled and she is angry and hurt by her husband's behavior. Finding the man she has always loved again is a temptation almost too great to bear, especially as her family crumbles around her.

Yet, despite all the negative forces, a more powerful one is interceding to work to make all things come together for the good. A new prayer chain encircles this grieving clan in the hope that the power of it will repel the forces of darkness that they have each allowed to enter their heart.

Everyone who has ever lost someone they love or been involved in family contentions will identify with someone in this book. Powerful, realistic, and moving, this novel will inspire you with the power of prayer and love. Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Once I started reading Where Yesterday Lives, I couldn't put it down. I was impressed by the way Kingsbury captured human emotion and struggle. The characters were so real I felt they were part of my family. I'd highy recommend this book. In fact, I'm going to call my best friend right now and tell her about it!

I loved this book. It made me think of all the people in my family who have died. It really hits close to home. It is also somewhat of a romance. It has the main caracter wondering whether her old sweetheart or her husband is the man for her. This book really makes you think about your family and how you might look to others in your family. It also gives out a good message that no matter what your family will always love you but in return you must give them that love back. Overall a great book.

Karen Kingsbury has that wonderful and rare talent for making her readers truly care what happens to her characters. I found myself in a dilemma: I could not put the book down, yet I didn't want to read it too fast because I didn't want it to be over. Can't wait to read more of her work!

This book had a great mix of family situations; the good, the bad and the ugly. It also bring the past and future together nicely, helping everyone deal with the grief of losing someone. I also liked the very important, but low key way of bring religion into focus, without sounds preachy.

Where Yesterday Lives was a good book, but not my favorite by Karen Kingsbury. While I thought her other books were amazing, this one got a little more tedious. However, the end was terrific. On the other hand, I found the characters very realistic. When the Barrett kids were young, they got along really well. As they grew older, they changed, and their relationships deteriorated as their problems came between them. As their stories were told, I found myself feeling sympathetic for them and understanding each one's individual problems. It was as if I was right there, which is what can make a book really great. And it also showed me what can happen when a family doesn't work to stay together.
I think the only thing that got slightly monotonous was the constant fighting between the siblings. This book only takes place over one week, and when there was so much obvious tension, I began skipping ahead to see when things would finally change. Also, the book is supposed to be mainly about Ellen, but there were many pages about her siblings, which was also necessary to learn about their past. And though I wasn't completely happy with some parts of this book, by the end I was satisfied. And I think anyone who reads this book will finish it feeling satisfied and perhaps even looking at how their own life can change. After all, this book is really about families and love, and how great families really are!

This book is definitely a good read, for certain. However, if you are looking for a LITERARY read, this book may not be your answer.

Kingsbury's fiction is readable & interesting, and her plotline in this book is intriguing & appeals to the humanness in us all. Furthermore, the way she weaves faith into fiction is a good balance, and is done w/ charisma.

However, this book is NOT as literary as the work of some of Kingsbury's contemporaries, like Kingsolver and Monk Kidd, for instance. The writing is more amateurish, in my English professor opinion, than others out there. While I found the characters interesting, I also found it easy to remember that they were CHARACTERS, not real people, since they seemed somewhat 2D to me. Developed, yes, but in a forced way, in a slightly unbelievable way. The dialouge was believable, to some extent, but the way the characters acted in certain circumstances was, to me, paper-doll-ish and obviously crafted.

An example of that is the character Aaron, who is "unemployable" because of his temper. Interesting, yes, but not realistic and not something most people would accept as an excuse from a 25 year old man. I also found the Ellen character and Leslie Maple to be this way too.

Conversely, I really enjoyed the character of Jake Sadler, finding him believable, attractive, and funny. To me, his part in the story was really what made me like the book. It kept me reading.

This book was recommended to me by a friend who knows my heart well and knows I am at times haunted by a situation similar to the one Ellen had with Jake, so , in that way, I found the book to be comforting and worth the read. But know that, in reading it, you may find that the prose is somewhat clunky and dry, not as fresh as real human interaction. Take it with a grain of salt, though; this is a good book.

As with all books by Karen Kingsbury, I was unable to put it down. I've concluded several of her books at 2:00 a.m. when I had to get up at 6:00 because I needed to know how the characters would make it through the tough situations. You won't be disappointed.

I love Karen Kingsburys books. I have read a lot of them and have never been disappointed in one. They are excellent in content. I would consider buying from this seller again.

Wonderful novel, it kept my focus from beginning to end. I was able to relate to Ellen's marriage and how it turned out gave me encouragement and made me realize how important it is to stay in prayer.