AUTHOR: Melody Carlson
DATE: 2022
PUBLISHER: Revell
STARS: *****
From the back cover:
Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that's not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one--until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera's help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request--a Christmas quilt for Mama.
Vera will have to get a ragtag group of women together in order to fulfill the request. Between free-spirited artist Tasha, chatty empty nester Beverly, retired therapist Eleanor, and herself, Vera has hopes that Christmas for the Albright family will be merry, after all--and she may find herself a new family of friends along the way.
My review:
As A Quilt for Christmas begins, Vera’s feeling sorry for herself as she faces Christmas season alone. When I realized she’d moved to be closer to family who then moved far away, I ached for her. But God isn’t finished with Vera. He sends her young neighbor, little Fiona, to ask for help.
That one small incident starts the change snowballing, with Fiona’s outrageous request for a quilt for her ill mother for Christmas, only a few weeks away, leading to Vera meeting Tasha, Beverly and Eleanor.
Every Christmas story needs a Scrooge, and Eleanor fits the part perfectly, offering the use of her large home for the quilt project but grumping and complaining the whole time. Until…
I loved this story with its unusual cast of characters. Fiona is a natural favorite, with her almost-five-year old exuberance and capacity for joy. The change in each of the adults make this story memorable, worthy of a good Christmas novella.
The story was given to me by the publisher; all opinions are my own. Recommend.