Review: Very Touching!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 30, 2014
Yesterday Mourning is a novel told from two points of view; two step-sisters who really don't know each other until they finally meet later in their forties. When Yvette's mom dies while Yvette is barely in her twenties, her dad falls into depression and is not able to give his daughters the love and support they need. They feel abandoned and when he remarries a few short months later, they feel betrayed and don't speak to him for years.Now in her mid-forties, Yvette returns to her childhood home to visit her younger sister Zoe, to find that she has forgiven their father and met their step-sister.Yvette now has to struggle with whether she can put the past hurts behind her and visit her dying father. The bitterness that she has fostered towards him in her heart is so huge, it's almost overwhelming.This was a very touching novel to read. Make sure you have a box of tissues with you. You'll probably need it. It is a good reminder of why it's better to forgive than to carry the burden of anger around for years. This book will touch everyone who reads it because we have all felt these emotions at one time or another. What we have done with those emotions will vary. Some will have harbored the anger and turned it to bitterness like Yvette did. Some will forgive. Some will not become angry at all, but understand that the father's distancing himself from his daughters is temporary and a function of the depression due to his grief and will continue to reach out to him.It's easy to see and sympathize with Yvette why she felt the way she did from her point of view. If only she could have known what the reader knew her life with her father might have been different and happier.And no one can really blame Vera for what she did as a child. Yes, it was wrong and she shouldn't have done it. But she did it out of fear. Childish fear. That too might have made a difference in the way things turned out.This book is a great lesson in what can happen if we are willing to put away the hurts of the past and embrace forgiveness. Yesterday Mourning doesn't preach the lesson. It demonstrates it most beautifully.I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The characters were engaging and real. I gave this book 5 stars out of 5.Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.This review was published on my blog Shelf Full of Books [...]