One Christmas morning : a novel

One Christmas morning A novel

Rachel Greenlaw

Book - 2023

"Eva has spent the past three years burying herself in her work, trying to forget the heart-breaking events of the Christmas that ripped her world apart. And this year, on the eve of her shop launch, the last thing Eva wants is to drive to the wild moors of Cornwall to attend her friends Hallie and Kian's Christmas party. But at her husband James' insistence, here they are. Worse still, Hallie announces she is pregnant, bringing Eva's pain to the surface. Overwhelmed by her friend's news and the bittersweet memories of Christmas' pasts, Eva tries to sneak back to London in the middle of the night. But as the clock strikes midnight, she is visited by the ghost of her beloved grandmother. Gran tells Eva that if s...he doesn't face her ghosts head-on and stop shutting out her loved ones, she risks losing them all forever. When Eva wakes on Christmas morning, she finds herself living not her own life, but that of her hard-working assistant, Diana, whose over-flowing inbox isn't the only secret she's been keeping. The next day, she wakes on Christmas morning again, this time in the body of Hallie's sister, Natalie. As Eva lives Christmas Day again and again through the perspectives of her friends, she is offered a glimpse into the lives of those she has been pushing away. With each Christmas Day comes a new lesson - and an insight into the secrets and struggles her loved ones have been hiding. To move forward, Eva must let go of the past. But is it too late to fix her future?"--

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Subjects
Space and time > Fiction.
Secrecy > Fiction.
Friendship > Fiction.
Grief > Fiction.
Friendship.
Grief.
Secrecy.
Space and time.
England > Fiction.
England.
Christmas fiction.
Fantasy fiction.
Fiction.
Novels.
Psychological fiction.
Genres
Christmas fiction
Fantasy fiction
Fiction
Novels
Psychological fiction
Published
New York, NY : Avon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Rachel Greenlaw (author)
Edition
First Avon paperback edition
Physical Description
323 pages ; 21 cm
ISBN
9780063288478
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Overworked and overstressed about launching her London shop, Eva knows she has been giving everyone in her life short shift, but it takes a ghostly visit from her beloved Gran and the strange experience of seeing things from the viewpoint of those close to her to get her to reconsider the path she is on. Greenlaw's remarkable debut is a bit of Christmas miracle itself with its clever nod to A Christmas Carol and its gracefully written, contemplative plot that sensitively examines life's joys and sorrows.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

A woman gets a chance to change her life in Greenlaw's nuanced debut, a twist on A Christmas Carol. Workaholic Eva begrudgingly travels from London to the moors of Cornwall with her assistant, Diana, and husband, James, to attend Christmas hosted by her friend Hallie at Penhallow, the former home of Eva's grandmother, who died three years before the start of the book, around the same time Eva experienced a devastating miscarriage. Despite James's ultimatum that if she leaves, they're finished, Eva tries to return to London on Christmas Eve to ensure all is ready for the opening of her new home goods shop. But her grandmother's ghost stops her on the road and sends her on a very different journey. With Gran's supernatural intervention, Eva inhabits the bodies of Diana and Hallie, among others. As she views life through the perspectives of those around her, she begins to understand how her obsession with success has affected her friendships and her marriage. When Eva gets a chance at a do-over for the events of Christmas Eve, she sets out to repair her fractured relationships before it's too late. Greenlaw's modern take on a classic is enhanced by multidimensional characters and their realistically complex relationships. The result is a heartwarming tale about prioritizing the things that matter most in life. Agent: Allison Hunter, Trellis Literary. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

DEBUT A woman reeling from grief gets a Dickensian second chance while celebrating Christmas in an English manor house in Greenlaw's debut. Three years have passed since Eva's grandmother died and she experienced a devastating pregnancy loss. Eva has sought escape through opening a new business and withdrawing from loved ones but reluctantly agrees to spend Christmas with her husband and friends in the country after her husband issues an ultimatum: it's this or divorce. Despite Eva's promise, her anxiety over her business leads her to attempt an ill-fated drive in a snowstorm. Then the spirit of her grandmother appears and gives her the chance to relive Christmas Day through the perspectives of guests at the estate--and determine just how she wants her future to look. Greenlaw's novel is a story about healing from trauma and reestablishing relationships. While there are romantic elements, this book's focus is on Eva and her personal journey. VERDICT A melancholy yet ultimately hopeful Christmas novel that will appeal to fans of One Day in December by Josie Silver.--Shanel Slater

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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