...by Barbara Wood
“Andrea travels from Los Angeles to her ancestral home in
England to meet her relatives and confront her mysterious heritage. But from
the first moment she steps foot in her grandmother's cold Victorian house in
Warrington, she senses an awesome, unsettling presence. She knows that a
rendezvous awaits her: a terrifying journey into the past, and a shattering encounter
that will mark her and change her forever. Andrea soon learns how terribly
right her instincts have been. Waiting for her is Victor Townsend, a man who
reaches out to embrace her from beyond the grave, a man for whom she
hungers-even though she knows of his past evil deeds. But Andrea also discovers
the lingering horrors of the old house, its carefully buried secrets, and a
timeless, tragic passion still burning within its aging walls.”
Andrea is a 27 year old who travels from Los Angeles to her ancestral
home in England at the bid of her mother, when her maternal grandfather is
taken ill and is not expected to live much longer. Going back to a country
where she spent only the first two years of her life, having no memory of the
place or of her relatives, she is not exactly thrilled about making the trip or
getting to know her family. The moment she crosses the threshold of the
ancestral house, however, Andrea senses something disturbing, a haunting power,
emanating from within. Initially dismissing her unsettling feelings about the
old house, she gradually starts realizing that the supernatural pull and
indescribable power the house has exerted over her is not a product of jetlag,
or her imagination. She soon finds that she has access to snippets of the past,
of the Townsend family who are the ancestors of her dying grandfather, and
finds herself increasingly drawn into the lives of those long dead. Of
particular interest to her is Victor Townsend, her grandfather’s father, who,
it is alleged, committed crimes too horrendous to speak of, had a heart so dark
he was the Devil himself. And yet, Andrea finds herself feeling a deep,
inexplicable attraction and attachment towards her great-grandfather, the man
who made life living hell for everyone in the Townsend family, ultimately
ripping the family apart. There seems to be a reason she has to partake in the
scenes of days gone by. She knows the horrifying story of the family as told by
her reluctant grandmother; she fears, yet she desires. Andrea comes to realize
the shocking events which rocked the Townsend family, gets to know the family
members better than anyone else ever did, and discovers the even more shocking
truths.
I found Yesterday’s Child immensely engaging and compelling. The plot focuses mainly on past events;
nothing much of interest happens in the present. It is very well written, as I
have come to expect of Barbara Wood. The lead character, Andrea, makes up for
not having a companion to interact with apart from her grandmother by giving us
readers a lot of insight into her thought process and her inner turmoils.
I am usually one who reads a book all in one go. With this
novel, I read at a complacent pace, and finished it over a few days’ time. That
relatively slower pace sat well with me on this. One reason was the lack of
free time on my side. Another, the details. I felt like I couldn’t take too
many descriptive details from the novel at once. That could have been because
the main character is almost always by herself; I like a little more
character-interaction. However, this could be because the main focus in the
novel is on the past, in Victor Townsend’s time, and not on Andrea’s time.
This is an unconventional love story, spanning life-times,
withstanding the test of time, tragic, intense, and beautiful. It has touches
of the supernatural which don’t overwhelm or take the beauty away from the
story. You won’t regret reading this novel!
