This is actually three books in one. It has Where Yesterday Lives, When Joy Came to Stay, and On Every Side
I have only read Where Yesterday Lives so far, but this is a remarkable book. I’m reminded so much about how things were for my brother and I when we were kids. We use to play and fight all the time. I miss having him in my life. We’ve tried as adults to gain a relationship, but we are polar opposites.
We have each also had to endure our own struggles in life. (He is my half-brother and he was raised with my Dad.) However, one thing was a constant for both of us. We both felt like the other sibling was our father’s favorite child growing up. I felt like he got everything from my Dad and that he was Dad’s favorite because he actually lived with him. Plus on top of that my brother had the brains, looks, and was very athletic as well.
I just had the brains and looks at that time in my life. To this day I still am not athletic at all. I could ride horses and to me that didn’t take to much physical skill so much as brain power. (Of course, I was a natural on/around horses. I believe that may be because my mom rode horses long before I was conceived, while she was pregnant with me, and had me on a horse the first chance she got.)
As we grew older, our resentment towards each other grew which is similar to the characters in Where Yesterday Lives. My brother and I are civil to each other and talk briefly maybe once in a blue moon. However, we both harbor some pain and unanswered questions. I hope that we do get those answers before it’s to late.
I enjoyed this story because it makes me feel less alone in this struggle to keep a relationship with family members. On Del’s side of the family, there may be drama galore, but there is a lot of LOVE as well.
I’ve noticed with many siblings that there is also the power struggle over being their parents favorite. I have also realized that parents may do everything in their power to let their kids know they love them all the same. However, with each child there is always a different type of relationship that is there.
Take for example..My relationship with Jimmy is truly special because I adopted him, and therefore, he knows he was chosen by me. I chose to be his mother for the rest of his life. However, when you look at the things he does…he still does so many things that I do. It seems like kids pick up our bad habits and none of our good ones?? Maybe it’s because all I notice is the bad habits because those are the things that annoy me about myself. He probably thinks daily that I’m picking on him to much. Yet, we laugh about it before it’s over because he knows that I’m only “calling the kettle black.”
Delbert is my Momma’s boy because I did give birth to him, but also because he’s a little me through and through. He also has a very loving heart. He is full of fire. He goes after things he wants with complete gusto, and sometimes he moves faster than he should in the process. He has the ability to calm like none of the other kids can. (He gets that trait from his Daddy.) He spoils me rotten too!!
Zeva on the other hand….she’s my little girl. She is quickly turning into a Daddy’s girl though. She is spending more time with him with each passing day. She definitely looks at him with total love and delight. She’s bull headed as all get out. She is more like her Daddy. The older she gets the more of Del I see in her. I can’t wait until we can do “girly” things together. She is already showing signs of being a tomboy though. She literally tore the arm off her favorite monkey stuffed animal. She also tore off a plastic Carebear off one of her other toys. She loves to tear things apart and try to put them back together.
Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors. I’m quite confident the other two books in this collection are remarkable as well. I definitely recommend her books period!!
Note: I did get this book to review through Blogging for Books. However, that in no way affected my opinion of this book. (You can literally look at my reading history and know that I’m a huge fan of Karen Kingsbury.)
