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A Escolha do Coração
Os recém-casados Holly e Tom acabaram de se mudar para uma casa antiga na pitoresca Inglaterra rural. Quando Holly descobre um relógio lunar num jardim cheio de ervas, e o seu estranho mecanismo de cristal, está longe de suspeitar que ele vai mudar a sua vida para sempre. Pois o relógio lunar tem uma maldição. A cada lua cheia, Holly consegue ver o futuro - um futuro que contém Tom a embalar a filha bebé de ambos, Libby, e a chorar a morte de Holly no parto… Holly percebe que o relógio lunar está a oferecer-lhe uma escolha desesperada: dar a Tom o bebé que ele sempre quis e sacrificar a sua própria vida; ou salvar-se e apagar a vida da filha por quem se apaixonou.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2012
59 people are currently reading
2991 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Brooke
32 books276 followersAmanda Brooke lives in Liverpool with her teenage daughter, Jessica. When her three-year-old son died from cancer, Amanda was determined that his legacy would be one of inspiration. Yesterday's Sun is inspired by her experiences of motherhood.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
February 18, 2012
Holly and Tom have just moved into their dream home and are about to embark on a new five year plan. For Tom this involves a family, but after a childhood of neglect and bitterness Holly isn't so sure. When she comes across a box containing a glass orb and strange mechanical objects during the renovations, Holly doesn't know what to make of them. Until it becomes clear that they belong to the stone sculpture Tom unearthed and plans on using as the centerpiece of their large gardens in the belief it's a sundial. But when elderly neighbour Jocelyn tells Holly it's actually a moondial, Holly is intrigued. One night when the moon is at it's fullest Holly feels an irrisistable draw to the moondial and places the glass orb into the mechanical contraption she painstakingly put together. She isn't prepared for what happens next. For Holly is offered a glimpse into her future. One which includes a beautiful baby daughter and for the first time Holly feels the stirrings of maternal instinct. But something is wrong with the picture of the future. It doesn't include her at all. Holly must work out if she can change her destiny, or will it become a choice of Holly's life for her daughter's?
I love time travel stories. I love real life settings with a magical twist. I thought I was onto a winner with this one, it contained both elements and sounded incredibly emotional too. Unfortunatly this one fell short and left me disappointed.
I encounted problems very early on in the book. Amanda Brookes writing is very readable, but personally I didn't find it at all convincing. Holly and Tom are in their early thirties, yet I've never met anyone of this age who talks the way they do. They just weren't believable at all. Secondly, it's a bit of cliche overload to the point of being cringeworthy at times. Finally it's so sickly sweet, the scenes between Tom and Holly left me wanting to gag. If the writing wasn't so easy going I would have given up very early on. Besides, I really wanted to know what the deal with the moondial was.
I actually thought the premise was a really good one. Imagine being offered a glimpse into a future which didn't include you and the only way to save yourself was to sacrifice someone else? The workings and history of the moondial are what kept me going and were at times fascinating. But as Holly wasn't interested in having children in the first place I wondered what message Amanda Brookes was sending out here. Tom is very persuasive and pressurising towards Holly in the early pages regarding her having children and Holly's emotional attachment to the child she glimpses in the future is immediate. Is she saying that a womans role is purely motherhood? I'm not sure. I didn't get it.
Maybe the book lacked a little emotional involvement for me. It's written in a third person narraitive from Holly and tells rather than shows Holly's turmoil. Again I thought the over sentimentalaity and outdated character speach distanced me. It felt like I was supposed to find this story heartrendingly sad but the truth is I didn't. And I'm the biggest wuss going and cry at anything usually.
I did like the wise old neighbour Jocelyn however. She's a figure of stregnth and the little glimpses into her story were fascinating. In fact, this is who's story I wanted to hear full stop. Everyone else were charicatures, and old fashioned ones at that and I didn't like any of them. The other plus is that this is a pretty short book. It's only just over 300 pages and an easy quick read to pass a couple of hours. Overall though this book wasn't for me. Too syruppy, no emotional connection and the story was the wrong one, from the wrong person. .
I love time travel stories. I love real life settings with a magical twist. I thought I was onto a winner with this one, it contained both elements and sounded incredibly emotional too. Unfortunatly this one fell short and left me disappointed.
I encounted problems very early on in the book. Amanda Brookes writing is very readable, but personally I didn't find it at all convincing. Holly and Tom are in their early thirties, yet I've never met anyone of this age who talks the way they do. They just weren't believable at all. Secondly, it's a bit of cliche overload to the point of being cringeworthy at times. Finally it's so sickly sweet, the scenes between Tom and Holly left me wanting to gag. If the writing wasn't so easy going I would have given up very early on. Besides, I really wanted to know what the deal with the moondial was.
I actually thought the premise was a really good one. Imagine being offered a glimpse into a future which didn't include you and the only way to save yourself was to sacrifice someone else? The workings and history of the moondial are what kept me going and were at times fascinating. But as Holly wasn't interested in having children in the first place I wondered what message Amanda Brookes was sending out here. Tom is very persuasive and pressurising towards Holly in the early pages regarding her having children and Holly's emotional attachment to the child she glimpses in the future is immediate. Is she saying that a womans role is purely motherhood? I'm not sure. I didn't get it.
Maybe the book lacked a little emotional involvement for me. It's written in a third person narraitive from Holly and tells rather than shows Holly's turmoil. Again I thought the over sentimentalaity and outdated character speach distanced me. It felt like I was supposed to find this story heartrendingly sad but the truth is I didn't. And I'm the biggest wuss going and cry at anything usually.
I did like the wise old neighbour Jocelyn however. She's a figure of stregnth and the little glimpses into her story were fascinating. In fact, this is who's story I wanted to hear full stop. Everyone else were charicatures, and old fashioned ones at that and I didn't like any of them. The other plus is that this is a pretty short book. It's only just over 300 pages and an easy quick read to pass a couple of hours. Overall though this book wasn't for me. Too syruppy, no emotional connection and the story was the wrong one, from the wrong person. .
November 24, 2020
This was an incredibly touching concept about the bond between a mother and child but the plot was rather too far fetched for me.
February 15, 2013
This review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.
This is a difficult review for me to write. While I liked the book, I had several issues with it.
This is a gentle novel. It’s a slow moving story about a young couple who move into their new home and are on the cusp of new phase in their lives: They are about to start a family. Only, real life demands like work and economy conspire to keep them apart. Tom’s new job demands he travel far away and for long periods of time. And there’s trouble closer to home too. Namely Holly’s own insecurities about becoming a mother. That’s a good set up for a character centric story where a character faces her own fears and learns to overcome them. Unfortunately, the story shifts into something completely different.
Holly finds a forgotten moondial that gives her a chance to see eighteen months into the future. She sees her unborn child, falls in love, and suddenly loses all her doubts about becoming a mother. What bothers her from thereon isn’t her fears about being a bad mother, it’s her perfectly natural self-protective instinct—her will to live. Holly never doubts her love for Tom or for the unborn, un-conceived, child. She doubts her choice to put her own life first.
What’s worse, Holly confides in a total stranger without ever considering asking her husband’s opinion. Admittedly confiding in him about the supernatural time machine—sort of—would make her sound like a crazy person, but she could at least talk with him in hypotheticals. When writing out their five year plan, neither Holly nor Tom stop to ask the other a single what if question. What if Tom quits the job he hates and do something he likes? What if Holly can’t get pregnant? What if there’s a problem with the pregnancy? What if Tom was asked to choose between Holly and the baby? Who would he choose.
Brooke does a huge disservice to Tom’s character keeping him so far away from the story and all of the decision, and doing so Brooke also undermines her main character, Holly. She comes across like a selfish, manipulative shrew instead of the loving wife and would-be mother Brooke would have us believe in. Holly selfishly manoeuvres Tom’s career in the direction she wants it to go, she selfishly decides not to conceive and then changes her mind about it. And all this happens because of visions that could as easily be hallucinations of a sick mind as flashes from the future. She risks everything because she thinks she knows best.
The epilogue and the “about the author” part convinced me that above all else this book was written to be wish fulfilment. Nothing more, nothing less. A wish.
Despite all this, I liked novel. I liked the writing, the charm and the magic of it.
I received an Edelweiss ARC of this book from the publisher.
This is a difficult review for me to write. While I liked the book, I had several issues with it.
This is a gentle novel. It’s a slow moving story about a young couple who move into their new home and are on the cusp of new phase in their lives: They are about to start a family. Only, real life demands like work and economy conspire to keep them apart. Tom’s new job demands he travel far away and for long periods of time. And there’s trouble closer to home too. Namely Holly’s own insecurities about becoming a mother. That’s a good set up for a character centric story where a character faces her own fears and learns to overcome them. Unfortunately, the story shifts into something completely different.
Holly finds a forgotten moondial that gives her a chance to see eighteen months into the future. She sees her unborn child, falls in love, and suddenly loses all her doubts about becoming a mother. What bothers her from thereon isn’t her fears about being a bad mother, it’s her perfectly natural self-protective instinct—her will to live. Holly never doubts her love for Tom or for the unborn, un-conceived, child. She doubts her choice to put her own life first.
What’s worse, Holly confides in a total stranger without ever considering asking her husband’s opinion. Admittedly confiding in him about the supernatural time machine—sort of—would make her sound like a crazy person, but she could at least talk with him in hypotheticals. When writing out their five year plan, neither Holly nor Tom stop to ask the other a single what if question. What if Tom quits the job he hates and do something he likes? What if Holly can’t get pregnant? What if there’s a problem with the pregnancy? What if Tom was asked to choose between Holly and the baby? Who would he choose.
Brooke does a huge disservice to Tom’s character keeping him so far away from the story and all of the decision, and doing so Brooke also undermines her main character, Holly. She comes across like a selfish, manipulative shrew instead of the loving wife and would-be mother Brooke would have us believe in. Holly selfishly manoeuvres Tom’s career in the direction she wants it to go, she selfishly decides not to conceive and then changes her mind about it. And all this happens because of visions that could as easily be hallucinations of a sick mind as flashes from the future. She risks everything because she thinks she knows best.
The epilogue and the “about the author” part convinced me that above all else this book was written to be wish fulfilment. Nothing more, nothing less. A wish.
Despite all this, I liked novel. I liked the writing, the charm and the magic of it.
I received an Edelweiss ARC of this book from the publisher.
April 11, 2012
Holly was on track with her five-year plan , find a boyfriend, open her art gallery, marry him and sell her paintings and of course move into their own home. Life for Holly Coddington was definitely looking up and on track , that was until Holly and her husband Tom purchased their new country home in a picture-perfect English Village. Whilst renovating , Holly discovers an old sundial which turns out to actually be a moondial with an almost like curse , the moondial can show visions of the future with one condition , it's a life for a life. In Holly's visions, she died during childbirth and now her husband Tom has been left to raise their newborn daughter Libby alone , in her vision Tom is miserable and feels guilty and of course Holly never gets to live her happy life. With this as Holly's future, she sets out to try and change the path and interfere with the future and not let fate take it's course. Things begin to get stressful though as Tom starts to pressure Holly about having a family. Will Holly do everything in her power to not become pregnant , so that she may live or will she sacrifice herself for her unborn child ? Yesterday's Sun reads as a flashback leading up to the main event in which we discover the outcome in the last chapter. The ending is one the reader does not expect and will have your eyes tearing up as you read. Yesterday's Sun was a book that I enjoyed more than I ever thought I would , a heartbreaking and haunting read that all will enjoy.
October 6, 2016
Gostei bastante desta obra, não só pelo conteúdo, quefoi bastante interessante, mas também, e sobretudo, pela mensagem que passa. Este livro fala de escolhas e das suas consequências, para tudo o que fazemos algo vai ser ganho, mas também teremos que perder algo, pois a vida prova-nos todos os dias que não podemos ter tudo, que temos de optar. Algumas decisões são particularmente difíceis mas, quando são feitas com amor, são as decisões certas.
October 13, 2022
Tom and Holly Corrigan had only been married for two years when they moved into the gatehouse that sat at the entrance of the once majestic Hardmonton Hall. Holly—an artist—instantly fell in love with the residence despite its many years of abandonment and neglect and finds that she has plenty of free time to make it a home since Tom’s job requires a lot of travel. Their lives, like the gatehouse, is full of possibility and promise. One day while renovating, Holly uncovers a wooden box that contains a beautiful glass ball and soon discovers that it is the missing top of the moondial that sits in their garden. When Holly places the orb on the pedestal on a full-moon night, she realizes that she has unwittingly activated a timepiece that shows her a future full of life and loss…a daughter and a death. When she shares her vision with Jocelyn, her new friend and the previous owner of the gatehouse, Holly soon learns the extensive truth behind the moondial’s power and realizes the terrible decision that she must now make that will not only affect her, but everyone she loves.
Give me a book that begins with a partial peek at the ending and I’m instantly invested in the characters and story. That is what Amanda Brooke does in her Prologue as we see Holly in bed, gently stroking her swollen belly, as she looks at her sleeping husband and whispers, “You’ll be angry with me for leaving you both, but eventually you’ll understand. One day, you’ll look at our daughter and you’ll know what I know. You’ll know that she was worth the sacrifice.” It’s a deeply emotional, intimate, and heartbreaking moment that immediately connects you with Holly and her story that’s just beginning to unfold for us. We know the journey with Holly won’t be easy given the fact that we most-likely know how her story will end, but we’re fully committed now and determined to see this through with her to the end…no matter how painful.
Holly is a fractured and imperfect protagonist. Yes, her waffling between questions of “Should I” or “Shouldn’t I” become a little tedious, but given her sudden and callous abandonment by her mother…HER MOTHER…you can understand the doubts and reservations she has about her own maternal abilities. If you lead by example, then Holly is doomed. Because Brooke takes her time in unpackaging Holly’s history, we clearly give her a pass when it comes to her indecisiveness and it’s why we stay loyal to her as she painfully struggles between self-preservation and self-sacrifice.
Without spoiling any of the story, I do want to comment on the verbiage written on the cover of the book: How can she choose between her child and herself? Oh, gentle reader. If only it were that easy, because as you start to discover and understand the power of the moondial, this goes so much deeper than “well…I just won’t do that and everything will be fine. Right?” When Jocelyn tells Holly that the moondial can be cruel, she isn't joking.
Yesterday’s Sun is a suspenseful, thoughtful, and poignant read that will keep you engrossed, guessing, and second guessing until the end. It’s a satisfying story that reminds us how we shouldn’t take anything for granted and how important it is to live in the now. American actor James Dean, who was only 24-years old when he died suddenly and tragically, said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” Holly eventually understood this and hopefully all of us won’t need a moondial to realize this as well.
Give me a book that begins with a partial peek at the ending and I’m instantly invested in the characters and story. That is what Amanda Brooke does in her Prologue as we see Holly in bed, gently stroking her swollen belly, as she looks at her sleeping husband and whispers, “You’ll be angry with me for leaving you both, but eventually you’ll understand. One day, you’ll look at our daughter and you’ll know what I know. You’ll know that she was worth the sacrifice.” It’s a deeply emotional, intimate, and heartbreaking moment that immediately connects you with Holly and her story that’s just beginning to unfold for us. We know the journey with Holly won’t be easy given the fact that we most-likely know how her story will end, but we’re fully committed now and determined to see this through with her to the end…no matter how painful.
Holly is a fractured and imperfect protagonist. Yes, her waffling between questions of “Should I” or “Shouldn’t I” become a little tedious, but given her sudden and callous abandonment by her mother…HER MOTHER…you can understand the doubts and reservations she has about her own maternal abilities. If you lead by example, then Holly is doomed. Because Brooke takes her time in unpackaging Holly’s history, we clearly give her a pass when it comes to her indecisiveness and it’s why we stay loyal to her as she painfully struggles between self-preservation and self-sacrifice.
Without spoiling any of the story, I do want to comment on the verbiage written on the cover of the book: How can she choose between her child and herself? Oh, gentle reader. If only it were that easy, because as you start to discover and understand the power of the moondial, this goes so much deeper than “well…I just won’t do that and everything will be fine. Right?” When Jocelyn tells Holly that the moondial can be cruel, she isn't joking.
Yesterday’s Sun is a suspenseful, thoughtful, and poignant read that will keep you engrossed, guessing, and second guessing until the end. It’s a satisfying story that reminds us how we shouldn’t take anything for granted and how important it is to live in the now. American actor James Dean, who was only 24-years old when he died suddenly and tragically, said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” Holly eventually understood this and hopefully all of us won’t need a moondial to realize this as well.
February 28, 2013
When Holly and Tom Corrigan move into their country house outside London, it's the completion of Holly's five-year plan: Find a boyfriend; find a gallery to exhibit her artwork; get married; establish a client base to buy her artwork; earn enough to give up her day job; and move to the country - and she's still got six months left of that five years. Now Tom, a thirty-two year old investigative journalist, broaches the idea of a new plan with super-organised Holly: have a baby.
But Holly remembers all too vividly her own childhood and her useless parents, her teenaged mother who loathed her daughter with an ill-disguised passion, treating her to neglect and verbal abuse before finally leaving when Holly was eight. Her father was a non-entity who taught her to cook - basic things like baked beans - so that he didn't have to. Holly's always believed she doesn't have a maternal instinct because she wouldn't have inherited one, but also, she's deeply afraid of turning out like her own parents. The idea is left hanging, and Holly turns her attention to unpacking and overseeing the renovation of the outhouse which will be her studio while Tom makes an attempt to clean up the overgrown, nettle-infested garden.
When Tom's work goes through a restructuring and Tom is sent to Belgium for six weeks, Holly is left almost alone in the house, an old gatehouse that is all that is left of Hardmonton Hall, which burned down several decades before. The local village contractor, Billy, uncovers a box from the wall of the outbuilding and inside Holly finds the cogs and pieces that accompany what they thought was a sundial in two parts in the garden. With the help of the labourers they get the stone piece onto the plinth, and Holly assembles the puzzle of metal and puts it in place. But it isn't until Jocelyn, an old woman from the village who used to live in the gatehouse a long time ago, pays her a visit that Holly learns it isn't a sundial but a moondial.
On the night of a full moon, the dial seems to call to Holly. By putting a small glass sphere into the metal claw-like grip, something very strange happens. Holly is transported eighteen months into the future, to a world with two very drastic differences: she and Tom have a month-old baby daughter called Libby, but Holly has died in childbirth. The shock is staggering, but having bashed her head on the plinth when the moondial became active, Holly is sure she must be hallucinating. Still, the sight of a grief-stricken Tom shakes her to her core just as the small baby, who alone can see her, bonds with Holly instantly.
The next day, Holly puts the worst of this out of her mind, but she cannot forget Libby. The connection with the baby gives her the inspiration needed to work on a commission project for the rich young wife of a much older man who wants to immortalise her new baby boy in a sculpture for her foyer, something Holly has been struggling with because of her trouble understanding the mother-child bond. Jocelyn proves to be a close friend who visits every Sunday, and slowly over time Holly learns the devastating history of her friend's life in the gatehouse, and the part the moondial played.
Now convinced that the moondial really did transport her to the future, Holly is left to face a decision which has taken on a whole new importance: to give up Libby forever and the chance to ever have a baby, or to go ahead with the pregnancy knowing that she won't survive, won't be around to watch her grow up, and would be leaving Tom, her best friend and love of her life, alone. Several more trips to the future through the moondial, unable to resist the chance to see Libby again, show Holly clearly just how much Tom is grieving, how much he needs her. The choice seems obvious: don't get pregnant. Don't have Libby. But as Holly's bond with Libby grows ever stronger, the decision doesn't seem so straight-forward anymore, and Holly learns the most important lesson that any loving mother knows: sacrifice.
I was initially hesitant to accept this book for review, because after reading the synopsis my first thought was, Oh god no, I can't read this, it'll break my heart. It sounded so sad. But I couldn't get it out of my head either, and as much as stories about mothers and children affect me so much more strongly now that I'm a mother myself, I gravitate to them too. And I wasn't far wrong, either: by page 55, when Holly travels for the first time, I was crying. I cried for this sweet little motherless babe. I cried for Tom who lost his wife and looks so hollow and empty. And I cried for Holly and her fate. I would not want to know the future, I would not want to be in Holly's shoes at all, I can't think of anything more terrifying than learning you're going to die in a year and a half, and how - leaving so many people behind. It's the foreknowledge that's terrifying; obviously, if you're dead, you can't think or feel either way.
Brooke, who wrote the book as a kind of legacy to her son who died of cancer when he was just three years old, successfully captures, with great emotion and realism, Holly's journey through a rainbow of emotions: denial, fear, shock, anger, love and more, and her path towards her decision to have Libby, which we know is the decision she makes thanks to the prologue. Knowing that she decides to go ahead with the pregnancy despite knowing the outcome adds an extra layer of tension and something that I can't quite name, a blend of mystery, danger and ... something else. The atmosphere Brooke created here is just slightly menacing, with a strong sense of time-running-out and other-wordly mystery. There is a back-story to the moondial that fleshes out that side of the plot, keeping the mystery but making it plausible.
It is interesting, actually, just how much you connect with Holly and feel for her, considering the narration has a touch of distance to it. It is more of a narrative than a descriptive story, telling us what the characters do and see and think rather than showing us, and yet it works. It felt rather like watching a story through a magic glass ball, and then falling through the ball into the story itself and being, like Holly in the future, there but invisible, a powerless voyeur. The story focuses on the lives of Holly and her frequently-absent husband, the sculpture Holly is creating, her investigation into the moondial, and her friendship with Jocelyn.
This is an emotional story, one that will wring you out whether you have children or not. I read this in a day (not in a single sitting though) and was drawn in by the speculative nature of the plot's time travel as much as by the intrigue and Holly's conflicting desires, wanting both her husband and her baby, and not wanting to put Tom through the pain of losing her. By the end I was crying so much, I felt so shaken, I needed a big hug from my other half. This isn't a book you'll want to read on the subway or at work, I don't think! The way it played out wasn't what I expected when I read the blurb the first time, but was much better. And the resolution was unexpected right up until Holly was ready to go to hospital to have the baby - I honestly hadn't thought in that direction. I was so caught up in the way Holly was thinking and feeling that there was no room for anything else, for the longest time.
A truly gripping, deeply emotional and moving story about the mother-child bond, the joy a child can bring to your heart, and the realisation of what it means to be a mother. Even though this left me drained and hollowed-out, it also left me feeling so thankful for my healthy son, my own life and family, and the gift of storytelling. I can see myself being drawn to read this again, because there are times when I want, need even, to feel so strongly - especially for other people. It somehow clears up my brain and makes me feel more deeply connected to the world around me and the people (and other animals) that inhabit it, and reminds me of the beautiful things in the world, things worth living for.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book via TLC Book Tours.
But Holly remembers all too vividly her own childhood and her useless parents, her teenaged mother who loathed her daughter with an ill-disguised passion, treating her to neglect and verbal abuse before finally leaving when Holly was eight. Her father was a non-entity who taught her to cook - basic things like baked beans - so that he didn't have to. Holly's always believed she doesn't have a maternal instinct because she wouldn't have inherited one, but also, she's deeply afraid of turning out like her own parents. The idea is left hanging, and Holly turns her attention to unpacking and overseeing the renovation of the outhouse which will be her studio while Tom makes an attempt to clean up the overgrown, nettle-infested garden.
When Tom's work goes through a restructuring and Tom is sent to Belgium for six weeks, Holly is left almost alone in the house, an old gatehouse that is all that is left of Hardmonton Hall, which burned down several decades before. The local village contractor, Billy, uncovers a box from the wall of the outbuilding and inside Holly finds the cogs and pieces that accompany what they thought was a sundial in two parts in the garden. With the help of the labourers they get the stone piece onto the plinth, and Holly assembles the puzzle of metal and puts it in place. But it isn't until Jocelyn, an old woman from the village who used to live in the gatehouse a long time ago, pays her a visit that Holly learns it isn't a sundial but a moondial.
On the night of a full moon, the dial seems to call to Holly. By putting a small glass sphere into the metal claw-like grip, something very strange happens. Holly is transported eighteen months into the future, to a world with two very drastic differences: she and Tom have a month-old baby daughter called Libby, but Holly has died in childbirth. The shock is staggering, but having bashed her head on the plinth when the moondial became active, Holly is sure she must be hallucinating. Still, the sight of a grief-stricken Tom shakes her to her core just as the small baby, who alone can see her, bonds with Holly instantly.
The next day, Holly puts the worst of this out of her mind, but she cannot forget Libby. The connection with the baby gives her the inspiration needed to work on a commission project for the rich young wife of a much older man who wants to immortalise her new baby boy in a sculpture for her foyer, something Holly has been struggling with because of her trouble understanding the mother-child bond. Jocelyn proves to be a close friend who visits every Sunday, and slowly over time Holly learns the devastating history of her friend's life in the gatehouse, and the part the moondial played.
Now convinced that the moondial really did transport her to the future, Holly is left to face a decision which has taken on a whole new importance: to give up Libby forever and the chance to ever have a baby, or to go ahead with the pregnancy knowing that she won't survive, won't be around to watch her grow up, and would be leaving Tom, her best friend and love of her life, alone. Several more trips to the future through the moondial, unable to resist the chance to see Libby again, show Holly clearly just how much Tom is grieving, how much he needs her. The choice seems obvious: don't get pregnant. Don't have Libby. But as Holly's bond with Libby grows ever stronger, the decision doesn't seem so straight-forward anymore, and Holly learns the most important lesson that any loving mother knows: sacrifice.
I was initially hesitant to accept this book for review, because after reading the synopsis my first thought was, Oh god no, I can't read this, it'll break my heart. It sounded so sad. But I couldn't get it out of my head either, and as much as stories about mothers and children affect me so much more strongly now that I'm a mother myself, I gravitate to them too. And I wasn't far wrong, either: by page 55, when Holly travels for the first time, I was crying. I cried for this sweet little motherless babe. I cried for Tom who lost his wife and looks so hollow and empty. And I cried for Holly and her fate. I would not want to know the future, I would not want to be in Holly's shoes at all, I can't think of anything more terrifying than learning you're going to die in a year and a half, and how - leaving so many people behind. It's the foreknowledge that's terrifying; obviously, if you're dead, you can't think or feel either way.
Brooke, who wrote the book as a kind of legacy to her son who died of cancer when he was just three years old, successfully captures, with great emotion and realism, Holly's journey through a rainbow of emotions: denial, fear, shock, anger, love and more, and her path towards her decision to have Libby, which we know is the decision she makes thanks to the prologue. Knowing that she decides to go ahead with the pregnancy despite knowing the outcome adds an extra layer of tension and something that I can't quite name, a blend of mystery, danger and ... something else. The atmosphere Brooke created here is just slightly menacing, with a strong sense of time-running-out and other-wordly mystery. There is a back-story to the moondial that fleshes out that side of the plot, keeping the mystery but making it plausible.
It is interesting, actually, just how much you connect with Holly and feel for her, considering the narration has a touch of distance to it. It is more of a narrative than a descriptive story, telling us what the characters do and see and think rather than showing us, and yet it works. It felt rather like watching a story through a magic glass ball, and then falling through the ball into the story itself and being, like Holly in the future, there but invisible, a powerless voyeur. The story focuses on the lives of Holly and her frequently-absent husband, the sculpture Holly is creating, her investigation into the moondial, and her friendship with Jocelyn.
This is an emotional story, one that will wring you out whether you have children or not. I read this in a day (not in a single sitting though) and was drawn in by the speculative nature of the plot's time travel as much as by the intrigue and Holly's conflicting desires, wanting both her husband and her baby, and not wanting to put Tom through the pain of losing her. By the end I was crying so much, I felt so shaken, I needed a big hug from my other half. This isn't a book you'll want to read on the subway or at work, I don't think! The way it played out wasn't what I expected when I read the blurb the first time, but was much better. And the resolution was unexpected right up until Holly was ready to go to hospital to have the baby - I honestly hadn't thought in that direction. I was so caught up in the way Holly was thinking and feeling that there was no room for anything else, for the longest time.
A truly gripping, deeply emotional and moving story about the mother-child bond, the joy a child can bring to your heart, and the realisation of what it means to be a mother. Even though this left me drained and hollowed-out, it also left me feeling so thankful for my healthy son, my own life and family, and the gift of storytelling. I can see myself being drawn to read this again, because there are times when I want, need even, to feel so strongly - especially for other people. It somehow clears up my brain and makes me feel more deeply connected to the world around me and the people (and other animals) that inhabit it, and reminds me of the beautiful things in the world, things worth living for.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book via TLC Book Tours.
July 25, 2018
Que livro ternurento sobre a forma como as escolhas que fazemos durante a nossa vida e que condicionam o futuro. A decisão de Holly é de tal forma difícil que, a dado momento, me vi a torcer por um final feliz.
Recomendo sem reservas, mas de preferência para ler num momento feliz da vossa vida.
Recomendo sem reservas, mas de preferência para ler num momento feliz da vossa vida.
March 12, 2018
3,5*
Um romance engraçado, tocado por magia mas um pouco parado para o meu gosto.
Fala do destino, das nossas escolhas e suas consequências, de amor e dos sacrifícios que estamos dispostos a fazer em prol dos que amamos.
O final foi emocionante e confesso que não estava à espera deste desfecho.
Um romance engraçado, tocado por magia mas um pouco parado para o meu gosto.
Fala do destino, das nossas escolhas e suas consequências, de amor e dos sacrifícios que estamos dispostos a fazer em prol dos que amamos.
O final foi emocionante e confesso que não estava à espera deste desfecho.
April 1, 2013
This is one of those books that had someone not sent me either a copy to read or told me it was good, I wouldn’t have read it. To me the cover isn’t all that eye catching and the blurb seems like it spells out the entire story. I was pleasantly surprised when I got done reading it and realized that I really enjoyed this book!
This is another of those great authors that really get the whole picture across. The world she creates is so vibrant that I had no problem picturing the idyllic country house that Holly and Tom purchase. Nor did I have issues picturing them or Jocelyn.
The other great things is that I didn’t get to the end of the book and have a ton of questions left over. It really is a great stand alone book. To me this is something of a rarity these days. Most books I reald always seem to be trilogies or they end up leaving you with a ton of questions like the author is hoping to get another book out of the deal.
The story itself really draws you in. Holly and Tom and purchased a house out in the country in order to get away from city life and start to plan their next 5 years together. Holly is big on making plans, and more plans, and then some more plans. Little do they know, but the house and the grounds it sits on have quite the jaded past.
Unearthed during renovations, to what will become Holly’s studio, is a box containing the mechanism to the moondial in the garden. Once Holly gets the thing put back together she gets the shock of her life when it transports her into the future. It is this first visit that really sets the story into motion in the book.
Up until this point I was really kinda meh about what I was reading. Once it took off though, I was sold. I quickly sped through the rest of the book, finishing with a gasp that was loud enough that my husband came in from the other room to see what was wrong. Yes, there is a bit of a shocking ending. Even though it was shocking, I didn’t feel like throwing the book! It really was the perfect ending to a great book.
*Disclaimer: This book was send to me by the publisher in exchange of an honest review*
This is another of those great authors that really get the whole picture across. The world she creates is so vibrant that I had no problem picturing the idyllic country house that Holly and Tom purchase. Nor did I have issues picturing them or Jocelyn.
The other great things is that I didn’t get to the end of the book and have a ton of questions left over. It really is a great stand alone book. To me this is something of a rarity these days. Most books I reald always seem to be trilogies or they end up leaving you with a ton of questions like the author is hoping to get another book out of the deal.
The story itself really draws you in. Holly and Tom and purchased a house out in the country in order to get away from city life and start to plan their next 5 years together. Holly is big on making plans, and more plans, and then some more plans. Little do they know, but the house and the grounds it sits on have quite the jaded past.
Unearthed during renovations, to what will become Holly’s studio, is a box containing the mechanism to the moondial in the garden. Once Holly gets the thing put back together she gets the shock of her life when it transports her into the future. It is this first visit that really sets the story into motion in the book.
Up until this point I was really kinda meh about what I was reading. Once it took off though, I was sold. I quickly sped through the rest of the book, finishing with a gasp that was loud enough that my husband came in from the other room to see what was wrong. Yes, there is a bit of a shocking ending. Even though it was shocking, I didn’t feel like throwing the book! It really was the perfect ending to a great book.
*Disclaimer: This book was send to me by the publisher in exchange of an honest review*
November 19, 2013
What if you were faced with a choice between saving your own life or that of your unborn child? This is the premise behind Yesterday’s Sun. Holly who has come from an unloved and neglected childhood is married to Tom. Their life seems perfect when they move to their home in a picturesque English village. Perfect, that is until Holly discovers an ancient moondial half buried in their overgrown garden. The moondial gives Holly a vision of the future with a beautiful baby girl, but Holly is absent from the picture.
Jocelyn, an elderly neighbour, who has had her own experiences of seeing a vision of the future and attempting to change it with results she never anticipated, becomes a friend and confidante to Holly. For reasons of her own chooses not to disclose what she has learned of the future to her husband or even talk it over with him. This book, which is an easy read, probably considered chic lit, raises questions. What if you could see the future? Would you really want to know? Or would you do everything to try and change the course of events? Is that even possible?
I quite enjoyed this novel, although some of the exchanges of dialogue between Holly and Tom were a bit clunky and tried too hard to be cute. Once again I got annoyed with characters that ‘chirped’ at me. What is the obsession with using this word?
That aside, it was a light read with an interesting idea behind it. The ending I thought was a fitting, even though I had already worked out for myself it would end like this.
Jocelyn, an elderly neighbour, who has had her own experiences of seeing a vision of the future and attempting to change it with results she never anticipated, becomes a friend and confidante to Holly. For reasons of her own chooses not to disclose what she has learned of the future to her husband or even talk it over with him. This book, which is an easy read, probably considered chic lit, raises questions. What if you could see the future? Would you really want to know? Or would you do everything to try and change the course of events? Is that even possible?
I quite enjoyed this novel, although some of the exchanges of dialogue between Holly and Tom were a bit clunky and tried too hard to be cute. Once again I got annoyed with characters that ‘chirped’ at me. What is the obsession with using this word?
That aside, it was a light read with an interesting idea behind it. The ending I thought was a fitting, even though I had already worked out for myself it would end like this.
April 2, 2012
How could you ever choose between your own life and the life of your child?
Newly-weds Holly and Tom have just moved into an old manor house in the picturesque English countryside. When Holly discovers a moondial in the overgrown garden and its strange crystal mechanism, little does she suspect that it will change her life forever. For the moondial has a curse.
Each full moon, Holly can see into the future – a future which holds Tom cradling their baby daughter, Libby, and mourning Holly’s death in childbirth…
Holly realises the moondial is offering her a desperate choice: give Tom the baby he has always wanted and sacrifice her own life; or save herself and erase the life of the daughter she has fallen in love with.
**************************************************
Yesterdays Sun is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.It is unspeakably sad,so beautifully written,that when you start to read it you just have to go on and on until you finish.The heart breaking story will reduce you to tears in no time at all.The wonderful love between Holly and Tom is tangible. The baby Libby feels so real you can almost feel her in your arms.Such a wonderful book and cannot wait for Amanda Brookes next one.
Newly-weds Holly and Tom have just moved into an old manor house in the picturesque English countryside. When Holly discovers a moondial in the overgrown garden and its strange crystal mechanism, little does she suspect that it will change her life forever. For the moondial has a curse.
Each full moon, Holly can see into the future – a future which holds Tom cradling their baby daughter, Libby, and mourning Holly’s death in childbirth…
Holly realises the moondial is offering her a desperate choice: give Tom the baby he has always wanted and sacrifice her own life; or save herself and erase the life of the daughter she has fallen in love with.
**************************************************
Yesterdays Sun is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.It is unspeakably sad,so beautifully written,that when you start to read it you just have to go on and on until you finish.The heart breaking story will reduce you to tears in no time at all.The wonderful love between Holly and Tom is tangible. The baby Libby feels so real you can almost feel her in your arms.Such a wonderful book and cannot wait for Amanda Brookes next one.
November 11, 2012
Where I got the book: e-ARC from Edelweiss.
This is yet another novel with a GREAT story idea and writing that fails to deliver. Holly has to choose between perfect baby Lily and perfect husband Tom, because she's found out (by conveniently stumbling across a magic moondial) that if she gives birth to Lily, she'll die (because of some weird logic connected with the moondial itself).
My issues with this book:
- the simplistic writing. I should go back and find a quote, but I'm feeling lazy this evening. My overall impression was of a writer who simply needs more time to mature.
- the ending. I think the writer broke the rules of the world she invented, but it would give away the book to say why.
- the total perfection of the husband and baby. They were both just...cloying.
- I didn't like Holly.
I have to say that I really wanted to find out what happened, and just upped my rating from 2 to 3 stars when I remembered that. And I found parts of the novel very moving. Kudos to Brooke for inventing such a nice plot, and if she can keep doing that and improve her overall technique I could become a fan.
This is yet another novel with a GREAT story idea and writing that fails to deliver. Holly has to choose between perfect baby Lily and perfect husband Tom, because she's found out (by conveniently stumbling across a magic moondial) that if she gives birth to Lily, she'll die (because of some weird logic connected with the moondial itself).
My issues with this book:
- the simplistic writing. I should go back and find a quote, but I'm feeling lazy this evening. My overall impression was of a writer who simply needs more time to mature.
- the ending. I think the writer broke the rules of the world she invented, but it would give away the book to say why.
- the total perfection of the husband and baby. They were both just...cloying.
- I didn't like Holly.
I have to say that I really wanted to find out what happened, and just upped my rating from 2 to 3 stars when I remembered that. And I found parts of the novel very moving. Kudos to Brooke for inventing such a nice plot, and if she can keep doing that and improve her overall technique I could become a fan.
July 29, 2018
Holly and Tom Corrigan are a young married couple newly moved to an English countryside village.
While exploring the cottage and garden, they find a moondial.
On the next full moon Holly places the crystal prism in the moondial activating a vision of the future, a future she is no longer in.
The vision shows that 18 months into the future Holly has died in childbirth leaving Tom grieving and raising their daughter Libby.
To change the path of the future means losing the chance of parenthood. Can she alter the future knowing that to do so will mean losing Libby and the chance of motherhood or stay with the future but not have the chance to even hold her daughter.
Wow, how would you even decide what to do. As parents we always assume we would die for our child but could we?
This is a dilemma any person would hate to make.
I really enjoyed this book but even up to the last page I couldnt decide which way I could go.
While exploring the cottage and garden, they find a moondial.
On the next full moon Holly places the crystal prism in the moondial activating a vision of the future, a future she is no longer in.
The vision shows that 18 months into the future Holly has died in childbirth leaving Tom grieving and raising their daughter Libby.
To change the path of the future means losing the chance of parenthood. Can she alter the future knowing that to do so will mean losing Libby and the chance of motherhood or stay with the future but not have the chance to even hold her daughter.
Wow, how would you even decide what to do. As parents we always assume we would die for our child but could we?
This is a dilemma any person would hate to make.
I really enjoyed this book but even up to the last page I couldnt decide which way I could go.
April 23, 2012
This book was not my typical read...looking into the future etc doesn't usually get my vote...but I loved every minute of this story it kept me guessing right up till the end.
Def worth reading :)
Def worth reading :)
March 26, 2020
In a similar way to Jodi Picoult’s books (one of which I have just finished), Amanda Brooke’s story features a character with an ethical dilemma, although the storyline is very different. Holly is a sculptor and has just moved house along with her husband Tom. Their new place is a gatehouse which once belonged to a grand hall, now in ruins following a fire many years ago.
When renovating the garden and outbuilding, which is to become Holly’s studio, the builders discover what they first think is a sundial and a glass object with cogs and wheels. I at first took this for a clock or anemometer or even barometer. When Holly is visited by Jocelyn, an elderly lady who once lived in the house, she learns it is actually a moondial. Jocelyn seems to know something about the object and though she is reticent at first, Holly experiments with it herself and so begins her time travel to the future.
Always hesitant to start a family because of her own dysfunctional upbringing and parents’ divorce, Holly has grown close to her in-laws, with Tom’s family being a polar opposite to her own. She discovers through her experiments with the moondial every full moon that she is destined to become a mother but will die in childbirth. This presents her with a quandary, because meeting her baby, Libby, has awoken a maternal instinct that she didn’t know she possessed. With Tom away much of the time owing to his work as an overseas news reporter, Holly tries to keep busy by producing her sculptures, overseeing the renovation of the house and spending time with Jocelyn. When she confides in Jocelyn she discovers the legend and secrets of the moondial and finds herself presented with heartwrenching choices. She can give birth and die in the process, or she can choose not to get pregnant; this is now unthinkable for her having met her baby several times on her moonlight visits. So what to do?
The story is a vehicle for exploring the differing facets of motherhood. Holly had never had a good mother figure but found one in Jocelyn, who in turn was denied that through her abusive marriage and the revelations of the moondial. Holly’s sculptures reveal her growing thoughts about being a mother and the nature of motherhood; her client Mrs Bronson is presented as self-centred and the implication is that she is perhaps not as good a mother as Holly herself would have been.
The story absorbed me as I love time travel and timeslip stories, but this didn’t really fit with either of those genres. An obvious flaw in this story is that the moondial seems only to show future misfortunes to those who choose to use it. In a realistic world, not everyone will have tragedy 18 months into their future and I would have liked to have seen some balance, but the story would perhaps not have been as tight.
We were told that Mrs Bronson was difficult and Holly didn’t like her, but I would have liked to have seen scenes with the two of them together to come to that conclusion myself, otherwise the character didn’t ring true. Holly also made all the choices herself, not involving Tom at all.
The writing is a little simplistic in parts and the two main characters Holly and Tom are very mushy together and seem to have spent most of their time in bed! Though this is Amanda’s first novel, and an author needs time to develop their craft. As I have noticed before with another book though, Amanda’s proofreader and editor are not very good. People take a peak at things, and take items out of a kitchen draw. Holly’s death certificate was dated 2011, yet at the end of the story it’s 2010. This isn’t fair on any author and I wish they would take better care when proofreading and editing, or leave it to someone who can do the job properly.
However I enjoyed the story and I did find it difficult to put down, so on that basis I would definitely recommend it.
When renovating the garden and outbuilding, which is to become Holly’s studio, the builders discover what they first think is a sundial and a glass object with cogs and wheels. I at first took this for a clock or anemometer or even barometer. When Holly is visited by Jocelyn, an elderly lady who once lived in the house, she learns it is actually a moondial. Jocelyn seems to know something about the object and though she is reticent at first, Holly experiments with it herself and so begins her time travel to the future.
Always hesitant to start a family because of her own dysfunctional upbringing and parents’ divorce, Holly has grown close to her in-laws, with Tom’s family being a polar opposite to her own. She discovers through her experiments with the moondial every full moon that she is destined to become a mother but will die in childbirth. This presents her with a quandary, because meeting her baby, Libby, has awoken a maternal instinct that she didn’t know she possessed. With Tom away much of the time owing to his work as an overseas news reporter, Holly tries to keep busy by producing her sculptures, overseeing the renovation of the house and spending time with Jocelyn. When she confides in Jocelyn she discovers the legend and secrets of the moondial and finds herself presented with heartwrenching choices. She can give birth and die in the process, or she can choose not to get pregnant; this is now unthinkable for her having met her baby several times on her moonlight visits. So what to do?
The story is a vehicle for exploring the differing facets of motherhood. Holly had never had a good mother figure but found one in Jocelyn, who in turn was denied that through her abusive marriage and the revelations of the moondial. Holly’s sculptures reveal her growing thoughts about being a mother and the nature of motherhood; her client Mrs Bronson is presented as self-centred and the implication is that she is perhaps not as good a mother as Holly herself would have been.
The story absorbed me as I love time travel and timeslip stories, but this didn’t really fit with either of those genres. An obvious flaw in this story is that the moondial seems only to show future misfortunes to those who choose to use it. In a realistic world, not everyone will have tragedy 18 months into their future and I would have liked to have seen some balance, but the story would perhaps not have been as tight.
We were told that Mrs Bronson was difficult and Holly didn’t like her, but I would have liked to have seen scenes with the two of them together to come to that conclusion myself, otherwise the character didn’t ring true. Holly also made all the choices herself, not involving Tom at all.
The writing is a little simplistic in parts and the two main characters Holly and Tom are very mushy together and seem to have spent most of their time in bed! Though this is Amanda’s first novel, and an author needs time to develop their craft. As I have noticed before with another book though, Amanda’s proofreader and editor are not very good. People take a peak at things, and take items out of a kitchen draw. Holly’s death certificate was dated 2011, yet at the end of the story it’s 2010. This isn’t fair on any author and I wish they would take better care when proofreading and editing, or leave it to someone who can do the job properly.
However I enjoyed the story and I did find it difficult to put down, so on that basis I would definitely recommend it.
August 16, 2024
3-4 Sterne
Eine Geschichte über die starke Liebe einer Mutter zu ihrem Kind und ein Blick in die Zukunft, der über Leben und Tod entscheidet. Manchmal hat es sich etwas zu sehr gezogen...
Insgesamt aber mochte ich die Charaktere, die mystische Stimmung durch die Monduhr und das englische Flair.
Eine Geschichte über die starke Liebe einer Mutter zu ihrem Kind und ein Blick in die Zukunft, der über Leben und Tod entscheidet. Manchmal hat es sich etwas zu sehr gezogen...
Insgesamt aber mochte ich die Charaktere, die mystische Stimmung durch die Monduhr und das englische Flair.
August 13, 2024
This book left me gasping and with tears pouring down my cheeks as it was just so beautiful. I was completely swept up in the story and read the entire book in one day!
January 24, 2014
This was a book that I found on the ‘Just Returned’ shelf of the library during one of my lunch time sojourns to the library.
The blurb caught my interest – ‘How could you ever choose between your own life and the life of your child?’. I assumed it would be Jodi Picoult-ish, as TGND might call it. But then I had never heard of the author or the book, so decided to give it a try.
After bringing it home, though, I started to have, well, not negative, but some sort of reluctance to pick it up. It looked like a general book, why waste time on it? It sat on my book shelf until I had finished all my unread Alexander McCall books. Finally, I had just one book – this one unread. I had the option of picking this one or the Kindle. Of course, a real book would win – every single time!
Holly and Tom, have just moved into an old manor house in a little English village. They are in the process of renovating the old house when Holly discovers what she thinks is a sundial and manages to restore it. Little does she know that her whole life is about to change. What is she thinks is a sundial is actually a moon dial, and it has the ability to show you your future on full moon nights. Holly sees her husband and newly born daughter mourning her death. She, according to what the moon dial was showing her would die in childbirth.
She now has the option of not having a child if she wants to live. She sees her future a few more times and falls in love with her unborn daughter. Holly comes with baggage of her own. She had an extremely uncaring mother and has always worried if she will evr make a good mother. She had always been unsure of ever wanting her own children, out of fear that she would have her mother’s genes when it came to parenting. Seeing her unborn daughter during her time travel with the moon dial, her dilemma just increases because she wants nothing more than to be able to hold her daughter, all the while knowing that giving birth to her daughter will kill her, so she would never be in a position to hold her anyway.
Then there is her husband. They are deeply in love and the future shows him distraught, upset and alone. Does she want him in that position? But he wants children and he is hoping that Holly loses her pessimism when it comes to motherhood. How can Holly possibly convince him to accept that they didn’t need children? Especially when she herself is finding it hard not to have the beautiful baby she has already seen.
Initially, she was adamant that things that she saw couldn’t possibly be true, until she noticed things that she saw in her time travel actually happening. She noticed little things, little changes happening to her house, which she had seen already through the moon fail, forcing her to accept that it was indeed showing her the future.
So what does she do? You will have to read it to find out but let me tell you that it made me well up with tears. It made me sad and yet rejoice in her happiness when she sees her gorgeous daughter in those time travel episodes. The author captures the emotional turmoil beautifully. It had me hooked and I just couldn’t put it down. I think I read it completely in less than a day, which is saying something, given my schedule these days.
The blurb caught my interest – ‘How could you ever choose between your own life and the life of your child?’. I assumed it would be Jodi Picoult-ish, as TGND might call it. But then I had never heard of the author or the book, so decided to give it a try.
After bringing it home, though, I started to have, well, not negative, but some sort of reluctance to pick it up. It looked like a general book, why waste time on it? It sat on my book shelf until I had finished all my unread Alexander McCall books. Finally, I had just one book – this one unread. I had the option of picking this one or the Kindle. Of course, a real book would win – every single time!
Holly and Tom, have just moved into an old manor house in a little English village. They are in the process of renovating the old house when Holly discovers what she thinks is a sundial and manages to restore it. Little does she know that her whole life is about to change. What is she thinks is a sundial is actually a moon dial, and it has the ability to show you your future on full moon nights. Holly sees her husband and newly born daughter mourning her death. She, according to what the moon dial was showing her would die in childbirth.
She now has the option of not having a child if she wants to live. She sees her future a few more times and falls in love with her unborn daughter. Holly comes with baggage of her own. She had an extremely uncaring mother and has always worried if she will evr make a good mother. She had always been unsure of ever wanting her own children, out of fear that she would have her mother’s genes when it came to parenting. Seeing her unborn daughter during her time travel with the moon dial, her dilemma just increases because she wants nothing more than to be able to hold her daughter, all the while knowing that giving birth to her daughter will kill her, so she would never be in a position to hold her anyway.
Then there is her husband. They are deeply in love and the future shows him distraught, upset and alone. Does she want him in that position? But he wants children and he is hoping that Holly loses her pessimism when it comes to motherhood. How can Holly possibly convince him to accept that they didn’t need children? Especially when she herself is finding it hard not to have the beautiful baby she has already seen.
Initially, she was adamant that things that she saw couldn’t possibly be true, until she noticed things that she saw in her time travel actually happening. She noticed little things, little changes happening to her house, which she had seen already through the moon fail, forcing her to accept that it was indeed showing her the future.
So what does she do? You will have to read it to find out but let me tell you that it made me well up with tears. It made me sad and yet rejoice in her happiness when she sees her gorgeous daughter in those time travel episodes. The author captures the emotional turmoil beautifully. It had me hooked and I just couldn’t put it down. I think I read it completely in less than a day, which is saying something, given my schedule these days.
August 3, 2012
(2.5/5)
Holly, uma jovem com um passado conturbado, conhece o homem que lhe mostra o verdadeiro significado do amor e da família. Quando Tom e Holly decidem viver juntos, esta última descobre um estranho relógio lunar, que lhe mostra um futuro do qual não faz parte. Embora nunca tenha pensado em ser mãe, com receio de não conseguir amar uma criança como ela merece, ao presenciar a sua filha Libby fica de tal modo apegada à criança, que se pergunta até que ponto a sua vida será mais importante que a da criança que crescerá dentro de si.
Tenho por hábito adquirir as obras depois de ter lido várias opiniões antes, de modo a não me arrepender, contudo esta obra chamou-me a atenção pela premissa, que parecia interessante e pelo facto de a autora ser comparada a Jodi Picoult e outras grandes escritoras dentro do género literário. Contudo, tenho de confessar que não me surpreendeu, nem tocou tanto quanto gostaria.
O tema da obra é bastante interessante, o relógio lunar que permite ao seu portador ver o seu futuro, de modo a modificá-lo, se for esse o seu intuito. Tendo-me agradado também a história por detrás do relógio, quem o criou, o que o mesmo lhe trouxe e tirou. A história gira basicamente em torno da decisão entre a própria vida de Holly ou da sua filha Libby, o confronto desta jovem em desistir de ter a sua filha e viver, ou tê-la e não sobreviver.
Quando fui confrontada com esta premissa, pensei que era uma obra ao estilo de Jodi Picoult, capaz de nos levar às lágrimas, de nos surpreender a cada página, contudo isso não sucedeu. Ao longo desta obra senti alguma repetição por parte da autora, onde a nossa personagem principal se perguntava incessantemente se devia ter a sua filha ou escolher viver, o que se tornou um pouco maçudo. Acredito que se fosse mãe, esta obra me tivesse tocado de outro modo, contudo nesta altura considerei somente que era uma ideia fantástica, que infelizmente não foi aproveitada da melhor forma. O facto de desde o início nos ser dado a conhecer a decisão de Holly não ajudou, acabando o final por não ter o impacto que gostaria.
Além disso, enquanto lia, se calhar por ter lido a obra há muito pouco tempo, só conseguia pensar que a autora se tinha debruçado um pouco sobre a obra “A Mulher do Viajante no Tempo”. Afirmo-o pela possibilidade de viajar no tempo, pelo facto de o marido viajar e de Holly ficar desgostosa, esperando o seu retorno. Poderá ser somente impressão, mas por diversas vezes ao longo das suas páginas, apanhei-me a pensar sobre tal possibilidade.
Relativamente à história de amor entre Holly e Tom achei-a bastante bonita, sentia-se a sua ligação e a força da paixão que os unia. O amor que Holly sentia pela sua menina ainda não nascida era igualmente palpável, pois são vários os momentos em que a nossa personagem principal visita a sua pequena menina.
A escrita da autora é bastante acessível e compulsiva, levando-nos a ler o livro num esfregar de olho e embora não me tenha sentido rendida pela obra, acredito que possa agradar a quem goste de um romance, onde o amor paternal é uma realidade.
(http://magia-livros.blogspot.pt/2012/...)
Holly, uma jovem com um passado conturbado, conhece o homem que lhe mostra o verdadeiro significado do amor e da família. Quando Tom e Holly decidem viver juntos, esta última descobre um estranho relógio lunar, que lhe mostra um futuro do qual não faz parte. Embora nunca tenha pensado em ser mãe, com receio de não conseguir amar uma criança como ela merece, ao presenciar a sua filha Libby fica de tal modo apegada à criança, que se pergunta até que ponto a sua vida será mais importante que a da criança que crescerá dentro de si.
Tenho por hábito adquirir as obras depois de ter lido várias opiniões antes, de modo a não me arrepender, contudo esta obra chamou-me a atenção pela premissa, que parecia interessante e pelo facto de a autora ser comparada a Jodi Picoult e outras grandes escritoras dentro do género literário. Contudo, tenho de confessar que não me surpreendeu, nem tocou tanto quanto gostaria.
O tema da obra é bastante interessante, o relógio lunar que permite ao seu portador ver o seu futuro, de modo a modificá-lo, se for esse o seu intuito. Tendo-me agradado também a história por detrás do relógio, quem o criou, o que o mesmo lhe trouxe e tirou. A história gira basicamente em torno da decisão entre a própria vida de Holly ou da sua filha Libby, o confronto desta jovem em desistir de ter a sua filha e viver, ou tê-la e não sobreviver.
Quando fui confrontada com esta premissa, pensei que era uma obra ao estilo de Jodi Picoult, capaz de nos levar às lágrimas, de nos surpreender a cada página, contudo isso não sucedeu. Ao longo desta obra senti alguma repetição por parte da autora, onde a nossa personagem principal se perguntava incessantemente se devia ter a sua filha ou escolher viver, o que se tornou um pouco maçudo. Acredito que se fosse mãe, esta obra me tivesse tocado de outro modo, contudo nesta altura considerei somente que era uma ideia fantástica, que infelizmente não foi aproveitada da melhor forma. O facto de desde o início nos ser dado a conhecer a decisão de Holly não ajudou, acabando o final por não ter o impacto que gostaria.
Além disso, enquanto lia, se calhar por ter lido a obra há muito pouco tempo, só conseguia pensar que a autora se tinha debruçado um pouco sobre a obra “A Mulher do Viajante no Tempo”. Afirmo-o pela possibilidade de viajar no tempo, pelo facto de o marido viajar e de Holly ficar desgostosa, esperando o seu retorno. Poderá ser somente impressão, mas por diversas vezes ao longo das suas páginas, apanhei-me a pensar sobre tal possibilidade.
Relativamente à história de amor entre Holly e Tom achei-a bastante bonita, sentia-se a sua ligação e a força da paixão que os unia. O amor que Holly sentia pela sua menina ainda não nascida era igualmente palpável, pois são vários os momentos em que a nossa personagem principal visita a sua pequena menina.
A escrita da autora é bastante acessível e compulsiva, levando-nos a ler o livro num esfregar de olho e embora não me tenha sentido rendida pela obra, acredito que possa agradar a quem goste de um romance, onde o amor paternal é uma realidade.
(http://magia-livros.blogspot.pt/2012/...)
March 8, 2013
In Yesterday's Sun, Amanda Brooke tells the story of Holly Corrigan and her struggle to choose between her own life and that of her potential child. Holly is granted an image of the future, a future in which she dies giving birth. This, however, seems to be only a potential future, not something absolutely fated. Holly, then, must decide whether to conceive this child, knowing she will die giving birth, or to simply continue her relatively happy life without a child.
Yesterday's Sun While Brooke is dealing with an interesting moral and ethical dilemma, the story is a bit forced and not terribly believable. The means by which Holly is given her vision of the future feels artificial and somehow doesn't feel like it fits within the world that Brooke writes. This novel is neither fantasy nor magical realism, and it seems like it needs to be firmly one or the other of these genres to work. Brooke moves towards magical realism but doesn't really "go there," and this somehow undercuts the ability for this reader to fully engage in the story.
Holly's ethical choice--between her own life and that of a possible child--seems timely, particularly in a society where women's reproductive issues are often at the fore of political and cultural debate. Holly recognizes that not only is she affected but that her choice ultimately affects her husband, leaving him either a single father or childless. And yet, she does not allow her husband to have a say in the choice she makes, does not even apprise him of the situation. Rather, Holly looks to Jocelyn, a mother-figure in Holly's adult life, for guidance. Something about Holly's willingness to trust Jocelyn, a near stranger, rather than her own husband didn't sit well with me and makes Holly a less-than sympathetic character in some ways. It would be easy to read Holly's choice as being symbolic of abortion, but this doesn't work in that the baby, Libby, is merely one possible future for Holly, not a fetus growing inside her. This notion, that Libby is only really an imaginary baby, robs the story of the seriousness that we might expect.
Certainly, Brooke knows how to write beautifully. And this novel should appeal to the world of female-dominated book clubs, with the moral dilemma allowing much opportunity for meaningful discussion. However, Brooke's work just didn't hold up for this reader.
This review was originally published at Speaking of Books, www.drennanspitzer.com Visit us there!
NOTE: A review copy was provided by the publisher. No monetary or other compensation was received.
Yesterday's Sun While Brooke is dealing with an interesting moral and ethical dilemma, the story is a bit forced and not terribly believable. The means by which Holly is given her vision of the future feels artificial and somehow doesn't feel like it fits within the world that Brooke writes. This novel is neither fantasy nor magical realism, and it seems like it needs to be firmly one or the other of these genres to work. Brooke moves towards magical realism but doesn't really "go there," and this somehow undercuts the ability for this reader to fully engage in the story.
Holly's ethical choice--between her own life and that of a possible child--seems timely, particularly in a society where women's reproductive issues are often at the fore of political and cultural debate. Holly recognizes that not only is she affected but that her choice ultimately affects her husband, leaving him either a single father or childless. And yet, she does not allow her husband to have a say in the choice she makes, does not even apprise him of the situation. Rather, Holly looks to Jocelyn, a mother-figure in Holly's adult life, for guidance. Something about Holly's willingness to trust Jocelyn, a near stranger, rather than her own husband didn't sit well with me and makes Holly a less-than sympathetic character in some ways. It would be easy to read Holly's choice as being symbolic of abortion, but this doesn't work in that the baby, Libby, is merely one possible future for Holly, not a fetus growing inside her. This notion, that Libby is only really an imaginary baby, robs the story of the seriousness that we might expect.
Certainly, Brooke knows how to write beautifully. And this novel should appeal to the world of female-dominated book clubs, with the moral dilemma allowing much opportunity for meaningful discussion. However, Brooke's work just didn't hold up for this reader.
This review was originally published at Speaking of Books, www.drennanspitzer.com Visit us there!
NOTE: A review copy was provided by the publisher. No monetary or other compensation was received.
February 11, 2013
Yesterday's Sun
by
Amanda Brooke
My "in a nutshell" summary...
A young childless couple move into a new home...the wife...Holly...finds an orb that gives her a vision of a questionable future.
My thoughts after reading this book ...
Whoa! Infinitely readable and totally engrossing...that's what this book was to me. And I can not really tell you that much about it! I will share a few choice bits, though, perhaps just enough to tease you into wanting to read this book. Ok...a young couple...Holly and Tom...buy an old country cottage and move to the country. Holly is an artist and Tom is a reporter. Holly finds an orb that fits on a structure in the garden...a new friend...Jocelyn...tells her it is a moon dial and shares a bit of the house's history. You see...Jocelyn once lived in the house...suffered through an abusive marriage and knows the secrets of the moon dial. Holly soon finds out the secrets as they will affect her life. They are shattering, will change her life forever and are ultimately very sad. And that's all that I can tell you!
What I loved about this book...
I loved the lovely writing, the setting, the characters and the mysterious stories surrounding the moon dial.
What I did not love...
I did not love that I knew what the outcome would be.
Final thoughts?
Even though this lovely book might have been a wee bit predictable...I truly still enjoyed reading it. Great characters in a lovely Englishy setting...mysterious enough to make it a page turner...even though I knew where it was going.
by
Amanda Brooke
My "in a nutshell" summary...
A young childless couple move into a new home...the wife...Holly...finds an orb that gives her a vision of a questionable future.
My thoughts after reading this book ...
Whoa! Infinitely readable and totally engrossing...that's what this book was to me. And I can not really tell you that much about it! I will share a few choice bits, though, perhaps just enough to tease you into wanting to read this book. Ok...a young couple...Holly and Tom...buy an old country cottage and move to the country. Holly is an artist and Tom is a reporter. Holly finds an orb that fits on a structure in the garden...a new friend...Jocelyn...tells her it is a moon dial and shares a bit of the house's history. You see...Jocelyn once lived in the house...suffered through an abusive marriage and knows the secrets of the moon dial. Holly soon finds out the secrets as they will affect her life. They are shattering, will change her life forever and are ultimately very sad. And that's all that I can tell you!
What I loved about this book...
I loved the lovely writing, the setting, the characters and the mysterious stories surrounding the moon dial.
What I did not love...
I did not love that I knew what the outcome would be.
Final thoughts?
Even though this lovely book might have been a wee bit predictable...I truly still enjoyed reading it. Great characters in a lovely Englishy setting...mysterious enough to make it a page turner...even though I knew where it was going.
May 4, 2012
Holly and her husband Tom move to the countryside to begin a new life. Holly explores the house and garden and settles to her work as a sculptor but left alone while journalist Tom is sent to work abroad she discovers the moondial in the garden which gives her a glimpse into the future; a future which doesn’t include her. As Tom travels more often Holly’s secret visits to the moondial become more frequent and more heart-breaking as she discovers the child she will have but knowing that her daughter will grow up without her Holly is left with a desperate choice to have a baby and sacrifice herself or save her own life and give up the baby she has already come to love. This is a heart wrenching and gorgeous debut novel. The characters will stay with you long after you finish this book and you won’t want it to end.
September 10, 2013
Die Geschichte an sich hörte sich vielversprechend an. Eine junge Frau, die einen Blick in ihre Zukunft werfen kann. Man hätte so viel aus dieser Geschichte machen können.
Doch vor allem der Schreibstil und die Entwicklung der Handlung machten das Buch nach dem ersten drittel fast unlesbar.
Zum Schluss habe ich nur noch Quergelesen. Ich hätte es weggelegt wenn ich nicht die Hoffnung gehabt hätte, dass das Ende evtl. alles wieder wettmacht. Ich wurde leider enttäuscht.
Mit das furchtbarste an dem Buch war wie die Beziehung zwischen Holly und ihrem Mann aufgebaut war.
"Ich liebe dich, ich liebe dich noch mehr, ich vermisse dich, ich vermisse dich noch mehr, ich kann nicht ohne dich, ich erst recht nicht..."
Das hat nichts mit Romantik zu tun sondern wirkt einfach nur furchtbar platt und einfallslos!
Doch vor allem der Schreibstil und die Entwicklung der Handlung machten das Buch nach dem ersten drittel fast unlesbar.
Zum Schluss habe ich nur noch Quergelesen. Ich hätte es weggelegt wenn ich nicht die Hoffnung gehabt hätte, dass das Ende evtl. alles wieder wettmacht. Ich wurde leider enttäuscht.
Mit das furchtbarste an dem Buch war wie die Beziehung zwischen Holly und ihrem Mann aufgebaut war.
"Ich liebe dich, ich liebe dich noch mehr, ich vermisse dich, ich vermisse dich noch mehr, ich kann nicht ohne dich, ich erst recht nicht..."
Das hat nichts mit Romantik zu tun sondern wirkt einfach nur furchtbar platt und einfallslos!
February 8, 2017
A sinopse sugere algo forte e dramático, no entanto, no decorrer do livro deparamos sim com algo intenso, cheio de alma e regado com um toque de magia. O enredo é encantador, juntando em simultâneo a fantasia e dilema da uma vida, apreender a amar incondicionalmente.
É um livro repleto de muitas emoções, desde uma tristeza que leva à caída de uma lágrima, à alegria, à ternura, à amizade, ao perdão, ao amor e principalmente ao sacrifício por alguém que amamos e que nos mostrou como a vida pode ser compensadora independentemente dos seus obstáculos.
Apesar de inicialmente ter tido alguns entraves com a escrita da autora, assim que consegui assimilar o seu ritmo, a leitura decorreu descontraidamente.
É um livro repleto de muitas emoções, desde uma tristeza que leva à caída de uma lágrima, à alegria, à ternura, à amizade, ao perdão, ao amor e principalmente ao sacrifício por alguém que amamos e que nos mostrou como a vida pode ser compensadora independentemente dos seus obstáculos.
Apesar de inicialmente ter tido alguns entraves com a escrita da autora, assim que consegui assimilar o seu ritmo, a leitura decorreu descontraidamente.
August 25, 2017
Neste livro, vemos a história de Holly e Tom, que são recem casados, e a iniciar a vida de casal, compraram uma nova casa, mas Holly rápido descobre que tem um relógio lunar e que lhe permite ir alguns anos para o futuro e descobre que Tom é viúvo mas que é pai de uma menina linda. Volta ao presente, e fica com a questão, será que quer a criança ou seguirá a sua vida sem crianças? Mas cedo se apaixona pela bebé e no presente fica grávida, mas o que irá Holly fazer? É um livro espantoso e que nos prende da primeira até à última página.
http://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.pt/...
http://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.pt/...
January 16, 2012
I loved this Book, The Story is very Good and it made me cry in places. 3/4 trough the Book I want to read the end, but then thought I better not it will spoil it.
I brought this Book as a 2 for £7 at tescos and I did read the back of the book and thought, that will do for going on a train to see my Daughter, when I got Home that day and had a few min. to spare I started the book and could not stop, I read the whole book in 2 days and thought about it a long time afterwards. Its really an amazing Book.
I brought this Book as a 2 for £7 at tescos and I did read the back of the book and thought, that will do for going on a train to see my Daughter, when I got Home that day and had a few min. to spare I started the book and could not stop, I read the whole book in 2 days and thought about it a long time afterwards. Its really an amazing Book.
April 25, 2012
Yeah at first I wasn't so sure but as the story went on I felt compelled. It was one of those stories you try to work out how it's going to end; it wasn't the ending I imagined in fact it was better.
The author had experienced the loss of a child and this story really shows all of us what committment you need to be a parent and the sacrifices you should always be prepared to take.
The author had experienced the loss of a child and this story really shows all of us what committment you need to be a parent and the sacrifices you should always be prepared to take.
March 24, 2012
Parts of this book were brilliant and other parts not so much which is why it only got three stars from me! It's an interesting idea for a book with some good twists. Worth reading.
February 4, 2015
Um livro sobre escolhas.
Um livro forte e ao mesmo tempo leve.
Nos faz refletir sobre o amor em cada escolha que fazemos, em cada SIM e NÃO que decidimos usar em nossa vida.
Um livro forte e ao mesmo tempo leve.
Nos faz refletir sobre o amor em cada escolha que fazemos, em cada SIM e NÃO que decidimos usar em nossa vida.
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