Where Yesterday Lives | 
| Author: Karen Kingsbury
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy Used: $0.75
You Save: $13.24 (95%)
New (21) Used (39) Collectible (3) from $0.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 304677
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 1576732851
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781576732854
ASIN: 1576732851
Publication Date: June 30, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: great book 1219781576732854
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
At thirty-one, Ellen Barrett has already won a Pulitzer prize. Sadly, though, her skill as a journalist far surpasses her ability to sort out her troubled past, so she's less than eager to return to picturesque Petoskey, Michigan, for her beloved father's funeral. When she most needs comfort, her husband is distant and her siblings antagonistic -- and the solace an old sweetheart offers is almost too much to resist. In the end, going home to the shores of Little Traverse Bay is an emotional and spiritual journey for Ellen -- a rediscovery of what is truly important and eternal in her life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Good Family tale April 13, 2008
I enjoyed the family dynamics of this story, but I felt like I was being preached to throughout and that bothered me. I am a Christian but it gets tiresome when the bible verses kept coming up over and over. I think had the story stayed with the family and not so much about Ellen, it would have been a 5 star book. The family was real and their pain was real. Losing both my parents and going through both funerals I found that part of the story heartfelt and raw with emotion. I have read other Karen Kingsbury novels and they were less preachy and I liked them much better.
 Awesome January 18, 2008
This was an excellent book. Karen Kingsbury is such an awesome author. I thank God for authors like her.
A Good Read May 8, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
OCEANS APART March 14, 2004
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate Karen Kingsbury's work. She captures life from a truly human perspective and leads you to the truth in finding true healing in pain. Karen is a gifted writer. I find her books very relatable and I cannot wait to start another book. I was fortunate to receive a free preview copy of Oceans Apart, and folks you are in for a real treat. IT IS ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT! Just like all her books. Keep up the good work, Karen.
Good book July 28, 2003
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
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!
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