Do you like to get up
right away on Christmas morning or sleep in?
I was excited that this year, now that the kids are teenagers, we were
allowed to sleep in until 9 AM. When they
were younger, we used to have a rule that they couldn’t wake us up before 7 AM
as we were usually up half the night wrapping presents.
Eva is not excited for
Christmas. Three years ago, her beloved
grandmother passed away at Christmas, and she lost her baby. Since then, she and her husband James have been
living in their own worlds. Eva has
buried herself in her work, ignoring her husband and her friends. Her best friend Hallie has chosen an estate
that her Grandmother always stayed at for the holidays, Penhallow in Cornwall,
for a Christmas house party. James
thinks they should accept the invitation, but Eva is worried about being away
while her new business needs to be launched.
She also has sad memories associated with this place and her grandmother’s
death. Will Eva be able to reconnect
with her husband and friends at Christmas?
Will she be able to break out of her grief and empathize with people
again?
Eva wake up on Christmas
morning and she is no longer herself, but her assistant Diana. She lives the day as Diana, not only seeing
the mistakes that Eva has made, but also realizing that Diana has a lot going
on in her own life that Eva has not seen at all. Eva relives the day repeatedly in the lives
of various house guests. She learns new
things about her friends and loved ones, and new things about herself every
day. Will she be able to use these
lessons to put her life back on track?
I loved the concept of
this book. It was like Groundhog’s Day,
but on Christmas day and if Bill Murrey lived the lives of different characters. It also had shades of A Christmas Carol when
Scrooge can see himself and past decisions and how they may shape the
future. Wouldn’t we all like the ability
to see how we are viewed by others and how we can change our lives for the better? Or would you not like that? I really enjoyed Eva’s redemptive arc and the
ending of this novel. I also enjoyed that
it was her Grandmother’s spirit that was her guide through this journey.
This book is heavier than
a typical Christmas book. Christmas is
being celebrated in the background of the novel, but the real theme of the
novel was grief and how people deal with it.
Eva came off as a very unlikeable character at first, but it gave her a
lot of room for growth and understanding as the story unfolded.
I enjoyed this debut
novel and I’m looking forward to seeing what author Rachel Greenlaw writes next.
Book Source: Review copy from Avon Books from a Book Club
Girls giveaway. Thank-you! Opinions
expressed in this review are completely my own.
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