Yesternight - by Cat Winters (Paperback)

About the Book

"In 1925, Alice Lind steps off a train in the rain-soaked coastal hamlet of Gordon Bay, Oregon. There, she expects to do nothing more difficult than administer IQ tests to a group of rural schoolchildren. A trained psychologist, Alice believes mysteries of the mind can be unlocked scientifically, but now her views are about to be challenged by one curious child. Seven-year-old Janie O'Daire is a mathematical genius, which is surprising. But what is disturbing are the stories she tells: that her name was once Violet, she grew up in Kansas decades earlier, and she drowned at age nineteen"--

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Uninvited comes a haunting historical novel with a compelling mystery at its core. A young child psychologist steps off a train, her destination a foggy seaside town. There, she begins a journey causing her to question everything she believes about life, death, memories, and reincarnation.

In 1925, Alice Lind steps off a train in the rain-soaked coastal hamlet of Gordon Bay, Oregon. There, she expects to do nothing more difficult than administer IQ tests to a group of rural schoolchildren. A trained psychologist, Alice believes mysteries of the mind can be unlocked scientifically, but now her views are about to be challenged by one curious child.

Seven-year-old Janie O'Daire is a mathematical genius, which is surprising. But what is disturbing are the stories she tells: that her name was once Violet, she grew up in Kansas decades earlier, and she drowned at age nineteen. Alice delves into these stories, at first believing they're no more than the product of the girl's vast imagination. But, slowly, Alice comes to the realization that Janie might indeed be telling a strange truth.

Alice knows the investigation may endanger her already shaky professional reputation, and as a woman in a field dominated by men she has no room for mistakes. But she is unprepared for the ways it will illuminate terrifying mysteries within her own past, and in the process, irrevocably change her life.

Review Quotes

"Atmospheric and spooky with real gothic flair, the latest from Winters (The Uninvited) introduces a realistically flawed heroine stifled by the conventions of her time." - Library Journal
"Winters follows The Uninvited with another gripping historical novel, this one an exploration of the effects of suppressed trauma and desire. [...]in this well-written tale that is suspenseful in all the right places, and will keep readers guessing at every page." - Emily Park, Booklist
"This novel is engaging, gripping, and features an extraordinary main character in Alice, a woman ahead of her time, intent on independence." - Book Riot
"[...] Be warned; this is not a simple mystery with a paranormal twist. Here is a story of possible reincarnation and madness that grips readers from the opening dreary, cold moment to the end and leaves one feeling unsettled, yet satisfied [...] Not a tale for the gentle reader." - RT Book Reviews
"Yesternight is a story that is unassumingly haunting." - Kirkus Reviews
"A haunting, unforgettable read." - Simone St James author of Lost Among the Living
"A wonderfully atmospheric and intriguing novel. Cat Winters portrays a fascinating period in American history with clever writing and a delicious plot twist. A novel that is sure to keep readers hooked to the end." - Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author
"A mesmerizing story of life and death in one of America's darkest periods." - Megan Shepherd, author of THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER
"THE UNINVITED is an affecting novel, dark in fiction and in fact. Set in 1918 against the parallel epidemics of the Spanish influenza and an equally terrifying strain of "superpatriotism," Cat Winters' latest offers resonant characters, a stunning twist, and an emotional, satisfying conclusion." - Michelle Gable, International Bestseller of A PARIS APARTMENT
Praise for The Uninvited: "Part ghost story, part love story, part historical fiction, this tale set in a small Midwestern town during the Great War is compulsively readable, beautifully written and populated with characters that will hover in the air around you, long after you've set the book on your nightstand. I finished this story and wished very much I had written it. Bravo, Cat Winters." - Wendy Webb, author of The Vanishing and The Tale of Halcyon Crane
"Evocative and lushly written, THE UNINVITED also features a twist I never saw coming." - April Henry, New York Times bestselling author
"dark and romantic [...] The author effectively captures the dangers of the period, and yet Ivy finds bastions of human kindness and acceptance. Her compelling voice carries this gothic coming-of-age story, at one horrifying and tender, toward a revelatory yet hopeful conclusion." - Publishers Weekly