Comfort & Joy
Ratings11
Average rating3.6
In this modern-day fairy tale, New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah gives us a very special gift: the heartwarming story of a woman at a crossroads, caught between two lives, who finds a second chance at happiness.
Joy Candellaro used to love Christmas more than any other time of the year. Now, as the holiday approaches, she finds herself at loose ends. Recently divorced and estranged from her sister, she can’t summon the old enthusiasm for celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a ticket and boards a plane bound for the rural Northwest.
Yet Joy’s best-laid plans go terribly awry. The plane crashes deep in the darkness of a forest. Miraculously, Joy and her fellow passengers walk away from the wreckage as the plane explodes. There, amid the towering trees, Joy makes a bold and desperate decision to leave her ordinary life behind and embark on an adventure…just for the holidays.
Daniel O’Shea has returned to the small town of Rain Valley, following the death of his ex-wife. Now he is a single father facing his son’s first Christmas without a mother. Six-year-old Bobby isn’t making it easy-the boy has closed himself off from the world, surrounding himself with imaginary friends.
When Joy and Bobby meet, they form an instant bond. Thrown together by fate, these wounded souls will be touched by the true spirit of Christmas and remember what it means to be a family.
Then a dramatic turn of events shows Joy the price of starting over. On a magical Christmas Eve she will come face-to-face with a startling truth. Now she must decide: In a time of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, can she find the faith to reach for the love she has found…and the new life only she believes in?
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This books deviates from Hannah's customary style in two distinct ways. It's shorter than most. It's labeled a fable, not a novel. And it's told in the first person, something I haven't found in previous Hannah novels.
In many ways, Joy Candellaro is an unreliable narrator. The book starts with the trauma of Joy learning that her sister, Stacey, who has already had an affair with Joy's (now ex) husband, is now pregnant with his child. A child Joy wanted, though maybe not with Thom. Joy was more in love with the idea of a husband and a family than with the husband she lost. She tries to escape her heartache at the news of her pregnant sister, the one who is soon to marry Joy's ex-husband.
Joy grabs the first plane out of town, heading to one of Hannah's favorite locales, the Pacific Northwest. To the suspiciously named town of Hope. Or that's where she's heading when the plane crashes and the story goes off the rails.
This endearing Christmas tale explores a very relevant topic: forgiveness. Whether it's possible is Joy's struggle. Where this quest takes her, where home really is, and how to listen to her heart play strong roles in this “fable.” Well done!
