The greatest gifts of all are love and hope.Elizabeth Mitchell is spending Christmas with her children and grandchildren, but the recent death of Elizabeth’s ailing husband and the absence of her son-in-law, missing in Afghanistan, hangs like a shroud over the family gathering. Then Elizabeth begins to tell the story of the miracle that happened to her one Christmas when she was young and wanted … and wanted to die, and the shroud begins to lift.
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Carla is having a rough time with the loss of her father and her husband missing in Afghanistan. While her mother Elizabeth spends the Christmas holidays with Carla’s family. Elizabeth tells a story that she has never revealed to Carla before of love, loss and hope when she was young. I truly loved reading this holiday romance novel by Lolli Powell. I received this free book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Elizabeth is visiting her children and grandchildren for Christmas and she brings with her a special photo album. She has been taking care of her husband for the past two years and he passed away at Thanksgiving. Her daughter Carla was grieving the loss of her father and her husband was missing in Afghanistan. Her mother brought down the photo album and started telling a story Carla had never heard before. The story will take us to when Elizabeth was young and what happened to her. Her daughter Carla asks her not to finish the story but her mother asks her to trust her because it is a story she needs to hear. It is a story she needs to hear and it gives hope that miracles do happen. You will have to read the book to see what happens but some gifts come in unexpected ways.
When her husband goes missing in Afghanistan during the holidays, Carla feels no one can understand her pain. But then her mother begins to tell her and her two grandchildren about a great love she once felt for a soldier who also went missing, and about her story of survival during a heavy snow-storm. The story is short and tense, and would please anyone who believes in Christmas miracles (or even if you don’t).
I loved the reminder that old people have a rich past behind them, and that they could relate much more than young people think they can.
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: The Gift: a novella
Author: Lolli Powell
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 19
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 9/10
Of the 19 readers:
18 would read another book by this author.
15 thought the cover was good or excellent.
19 felt it was easy to follow.
19 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 12 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
17 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
18 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘I liked this short very much. An emotional tale of two strong women trying to deal with loss and the difficulty of being a military wife. Cleverly written with a wonderful sense of ‘hopefulness’. Excellent read’ Female reader, aged 43
‘Carla’s husband is missing in Afghanistan so, what with the loss of her dad, Christmas is not shaping up to good. But her mother tells the family a story which might, just might, give them a little Christmas cheer after all. A story of hope which I suspect will bring a tear to many readers’ eyes.’ Female reader, aged 39
‘This author just shows that you don’t have to write a 1,000 page epic to give the reader an emotionally satisfying and often deeply moving story.’ Male reader. aged 67
‘A little magic and the odd miracle. What a lovely story to read.’ Female reader, aged 71
To Sum It Up:
‘A superbly written, emotionally rewarding novella. A FINALIST and highly recommended,’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards