Yesterday Mourning Book Review (My addiction is Reading)

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I received a copy of Yesterday Mourning, in exchange for honest review from My Addiction is Reading.

About the book (From Media Kit)

Yvette is a forty-one year old woman struggling to cope with losing both parents during her twenties—one to terminal disease and the other to life’s complications. Over the years, she learned to repress the pain of watching her mother die and the resentment of having her father casually walk out of her life. Now as she packs her bags to return to her Georgia hometown and the house where final goodbyes were never spoken, a growing sense of uneasiness intensifies.

Vera is the kind-hearted stepsister Yvette never imagined nor wanted. She was an innocent teenager in search of answers when Yvette’s father, the Pastor, entered her life. Although broken from the loss of his beloved wife and daughters, he gave Vera the love and affection she so desperately needed. However, a childhood secret threatens to compromise everything Vera holds dear.

When the Pastor’s health takes a turn for the worse, both daughters must decide if they have the strength and courage to no longer be confined to burdens of the past. Will Yvette overcome feelings of abandonment and forgive her father before it’s too late? Does Vera’s childhood secret hold the key to mending this family’s broken relationship?

Yesterday Mourning is a heartfelt and poignant novella about two women learning invaluable lessons of forgiveness, love, loss and ultimately—peace. It is an impressive debut from an author with an authentic voice and a love for storytelling.

About the author: (From Media kit)

Renita Bryant, a native of Fort Valley, Georgia, had visions of being a writer from an early age. "There's something magical about using words on a page to emotionally propel someone into another time and place."

Since obtaining her BS & MBA, Renita has worked for some of the world's largest companies on many of their most recognizable household brands. Although she finds the work rewarding, her passion for writing pushed her to complete and publish her first novella, Yesterday Mourning, in May 2013.

Renita currently resides in Ohio and stays actively involved in social media with her blog, Renita’s Mynd Matters, Twitter (@Mynd_Matters), Facebook (YesterdayMourningBook), and Goodreads pages! She's currently working on multiple projects including book #2 and a collection of poetry.

Excerpt

I didn’t know what to say.

Two years had passed since I last laid eyes on him, and I had no clue what would be the first or final words spoken. Maybe I'd ask for an in-depth explanation as to why


he didn’t try harder to salvage the relationship we built—the love we shared. While I wanted to hear his answers, my heart recognized that simple words wouldn’t make our truth any less real. Our perspectives had changed because our lives had changed. Our interactions had transformed into something entirely different than the possibilities we would have imagined a few years ago.

A part of me wanted to run away in hopes of avoiding both him and the complexity of this moment—a moment built on the promise of closure. However, running away stopped being an option a long time ago, and as such, I got the privilege of sitting on a concrete step under an August Georgia sun waiting for my father to turn the corner into our cul-de-sac. I got to wonder whether he would try to hug me or engage in small talk—or do the unexpected and admit fault for the current state of our situation.


I wish things had been different. I wish he had made a different choice—one that involved me, or at least considered me. I replayed our conversations often, wondering whether I was too sensitive or whether he really was as heartless and selfish as I perceived him to be.

We were both mourning a loss—a wife, a mother. He yearned to feel her touch just as I longed to see her smile. Her voice had coached us both through the funeral, the holidays, and the random moments such as being in the grocery store and seeing a grapefruit and remembering how much she loved them. 

Both of us had changed hospital bed sheets, paged nurses, and authorized procedures while feeling her
slip away from our hopeful grasps. The sting of tears on wishful cheeks was no less painful for either of us. Our tears just fell in two different states and for two very different reasons. The reasons were what hindered me from knowing what I should say to him.

My Review:

I wanted to review the book because I loved the description. Two sisters brought together by their father, a pastor. One child is biological, the other is a step and he loved them both the same. The book started out with the prologue, provided in the excerpt above. A daughter, Yvette. visiting town for her mother's funeral and not sure what to say to her father, who she hasn't seen in years. Her mother died of cancer. Her father had moved on with a new family (Mary the wife and Vera the daughter) and forgot about the children, he had already. All of them had suffered loss. The prologue was well-written and I wanted to read more of the book. 

The book then moves forward 16 years later. Yvette and her daughter are heading back to Georgia. Vera is getting ready to head to a dinner for her stepfather, while holding a secret between her and Zoe, Yvette's biological sister. 

The book was a good read, with powerful scenes. The family is damaged. Will they find peace and forgiveness again. 

The book is available in Kindle and paperback format on Amazon. The book is not prime-eligible. 

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