Before We Were Yours

How it reads

Before We Were Yours is historical fiction (historical family saga, specifically), and its dominant mood is heartwarming. It's kind, generous and emotionally satisfying. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in a small town setting, in the historical past, told across two timelines. Its central concerns are family, loss and grief and identity. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 342 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.