4 out of 4 stars
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You know when you read the first few lines of a new book and immediately think, "Oh, I am going to like this"? And then you leap into it, happy in the knowledge that you're about to have some very pleasant hours? Yesterday was one of those books for me. It was an absolute pleasure to read from start to finish.
It jumps straight into the story: Our heroine, Amanda, finds herself in the right place at the right time to save the life of handsome police officer Mark. They instantly know that they are somehow connected - not to mention in love - and delve into a world of past lives and reincarnation to discover how they once knew each other, and the mystery behind Amanda's newly acquired grandfather clock which connects them. Under hypnosis, the novel unfolds into a parallel historical story set in the late 1800s, in Carolina and Chicago in the time of the Civil War. This was a really nice surprise for me - the book is down as historical fiction but this is more time-slip stuff for me, and I love it.
It's also an area of history that I don't know much about. Being British, American history is not something that we study much at school, so peeping through a window into this part of the past was very nice, and I feel that it was done well. I also felt that the language use was done pretty well, and I'd be interested to know what Americans would make of the Deep South, plantation phonetic vocabulary, and whether it is as convincing as I found it. Speaking of language use, handsome police officer Mark is the kind of Irish-American that US writers seem quite frequently to use when they are portraying someone as charming. This was the only element of the characters that I found cheesy, and again, I suspect this is a British thing.
The pace of the book kind of floats along; it never really feels very urgent or creates that what's on the next page? Quick quick quick! feeling, even in moments of crisis. But that doesn't mean it is ever boring or slow - it's just very relaxed and peaceful, and moves along so smoothly you barely notice that you've just read half the book. The writing style almost echoes the hypnotic concept of the storyline. The pace picks up towards the end as all the pieces of the story come together.
This is a love story. It is a romance. Furthermore, it is a time-slip romance, and I know plenty of people who have no patience for that kind of thing. If you are one of them, this is not for you. But I must stress that, despite being a romance, it is in no way sickly. Sentimental, sure, but not sappy. The characters are smart and not annoying, and I really believed Amanda and Mark's love for each other. Obviously, if you believe in past lives, this is a plus, but honestly, if you don't (like me), it's still a really enjoyable read and a dip into the hypothetical.
The writing and editing is very professional, and I liked the poetic use of language. It's a tiny bit over-descriptive - do people really need to "saunter to the living room"? - but there is such beautiful use of imagery in describing colour, taste and smell that you can't really argue. And speaking of describing taste, good god, these characters drink a lot. They are CONSTANTLY drinking wine or whiskey. Do you ever watch Mad Men, and start to cringe whenever they pour themselves a scotch at 9am? That was what I started to do whenever Amanda and Mark topped up each other's glasses and sipped their wine and requested another drink. I genuinely started to feel queasy for them. Ah well. Another character consistently drank tea throughout, which was more soothing.
I had a lovely time reading Yesterday. I enjoyed the concept, I enjoyed the language, and overall I really enjoyed the experience. I really do have to give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars, as I feel that anyone who likes this genre would certainly enjoy this book.
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Yesterday
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