Of Yesteryear Review

Often they say that reading organic poetry is a lot like experiencing the transcendence of one’s soul where, after reading just one page, one automatically feels lifted.

Reading Lauren Eden’s Of Yesteryear is a lot like that.

Each piece makes you feel understood and listened to. Each emotion grasped is one that is so personal and so tender. And this poetry book is one that enlivens the broken lover within you, by lauding the paradoxicalities of love – the kind of love that you know is doomed to begin with but that isn’t enough to stop you from taking the plunge.

Of Yesteryear is a celebration of contemporary love; with all its imperfections, technicalities, jitteriness, warmth and delicacy. This poetry book is a reflection of many young people who have fallen, risen and aren’t afraid to fall once again. Every single poem creates a passion, hope and hurt all mended together. Each piece throbs with powerful emotions. A book meant to heal the heart; it consists of therapeutic lexical patterns etched on crisp yellow pages, laced together with good will in a black paperback and sprinkled with pixie dust and tears.

Lauren creates magic with this book and she continues to do so on her Instagram page @ofyesteryear where she shares her wonderful, touching poems with her followers (including me) every single day. Lauren doesn’t just carry her heart as a crown on her head; she empties its contents out on the folded pages of this book, ready for the world to share in her epiphanies, ready for the world to understand themselves with her.

For me, this book was like a soothing hymn, one that melted my insides with the knowledge that others, too, felt like how I did and what could be more comforting than that? To know that we are on the same rocky journey of love together, with its patterned chaos and sporadic moments of happiness, where we act, feel and heal together but our endpoints differ.

There were many instances where I couldn’t help but smile at the extreme pertinency of some pieces to situations in my own life, causing fleeting moments of confusion as to how the book knew just how I was feeling and when.

Lauren, everyone, is a phenomenal writer. She has tact, skill and simplicity and most importantly she spills her heart out on paper which is the biggest gift a writer can give to her readers. She has made me a fervent reader of her work for this long and I know that after you guys read her work, you too will become enchanted by the elegance of her writing.

I have so many favourites from Of Yesteryear and it kills me to have to pick just one but I know that I’ll have to. So here is a pick from one of my many many favourites:

Don’t
tell me
you love
the rain

when you
don’t stay
to watch
her dry

after
she’s fallen
for you.

Absolutely amazing!

Lauren is a complete star and I can’t wait until you guys read her book Of Yesteryear because believe me, it’ll take you back to yesteryear and shake everything within you with tenderness, happiness and realisation of how you feel and where you stand in your life right now.

So for those of you who trust my choice in poetry (and I know you do) go and purchase this book, you will not be disappointed!

Until then,

Happy reading!