About the Book
As the anticipation of Christmas builds in the Nielsen family’s cosy farmhouse, Jo, Magnus and their grown-up children begin to congregate for a hybrid Danish-Jersey festive season, each with a surprise of their own – though the surprise that arrives over Christmas is the most life-changing of all.
Fifty years earlier, in 1969, Susan Jones finds herself being pursued by Mr Jenners, her former English teacher, and at the age of seventeen is packed off to a Home for Unmarried Mothers in London by her uncompromising father. As Christmas approaches, all she can do is desperately hope to be rescued, but will anyone be able to reach her in time?
The two timelines of this festive story gradually weave together in a tale that examines whether love and hope can eventually triumph over even the deepest sadness.
Rebecca Boxall is the award-nominated author of five bestselling novels – Christmas at the Vicarage, Home for Winter, Christmas on the Coast, The Christmas Forest and Christmas by the Lighthouse.
My Review
It’s December 2019. Jo Nielsen is busy preparing for the Christmas holiday. She and her husband, Magnus, are happily anticipating spending the holidays with their adult children and their families. They didn't expect each member of their family to come with a surprise to shake up their quiet holiday plans.
Back in 1969, Susan Jones fights off the unwanted attention from her former English teacher. The next thing she knows, she’s having a baby and her domineering father sends her to a Home for Unmarried Mothers. She prays that she will be rescued before having to put the baby up for adoption.
This story alternates timelines between the present and 1969. The reader is taken through Susan’s journey as well as the Nielsen family’s journey. It is a touching, sweet story of hope, family, friendship, regrets, sadness and joy. This story grabbed onto my heart and wouldn’t let go. I truly cared about each character.
It was a quick read for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. I found myself both crying and smiling. These are characters that stayed with me even after I finished the book. It's the perfect book to read at Christmas.
If I rated books higher than five stars, this would be one of those. It’s going on my best of 2020 list. I never read anything by this author before, but I’ll be sure to read her backlist and future books. I’m now a fan.
FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Purchase Links
Author Bio
Rebecca Boxall was born in 1977 in East Sussex, where she grew up in a vicarage always filled with family, friends and parishioners. She now lives by the sea in Jersey with her husband, three children and Rodney the cat. She read English at the University of Warwick before training as a lawyer and also studied Creative Writing with The Writer’s Bureau. She is the bestselling author of Christmas at the Vicarage, Home for Winter, Christmas on the Coast, The Christmas Forest and Christmas by the Lighthouse and was nominated for the Romantic Novelist Association Awards in 2020.
Social Media Links
For more information please visit her website – www.rebeccaboxall.co.uk – or her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/christmasatthevicarage.
I'd love to read it.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds good. I like Christmas themed books.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really Christmassy cover too.
ReplyDeleteSounds amazing. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete