Book Review: A Wreath of Snow

When my library acquired Liz Curtis Higgs' new book, A Wreath of Snow, I put my name on the hold list.  (I remembered the author's name from her other historical fiction novel, Thorn in My Heart, a re-telling of the Biblical story of Rachel and Leah.)  Unfortunately, I didn't get my turn until after the holidays, but it was still a really wonderful read.  I picked it up yesterday and couldn't put it down (staying up, well after I should have, to finish it).

In this little Christmas novella, Margaret Campbell is desperate to get back to her Edinburgh town house.  She has attempted a visit to her childhood home of Stirling, but her brother's bitterness and sour spirits have sent her running back to her own quiet, little home.  When she boards the train, she is unaware that an unexpected delay will throw her directly in the path of the handsome Gordon Shaw, who shares a secret connection from the past. Can this reunion bring forgiveness instead of pain?  Will the characters open their hearts to the power of God to change hearts and lives?

As the front cover declares, this novel "is a tender story of love and forgiveness, wrapped in a celebration of all things Scottish, all things Victorian, and, especially, all things Christmas."  I loved the re-creation of a Victorian Stirling railway scene.  I was drawn into the characters and their dilemma.  I enjoyed the references to Scottish Christmas traditions.  Plus, I couldn't stop saying to myself, "just one more chapter and I'll put it away."  In the end, I didn't "put it away," until there were no more chapters to read.  I would happily pick up another Liz Curtis Higgs novel!