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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Why This Is a Perfect October Christmas Read

by Chautona Havig · 18 Comments

Near the end of September, the air grows a little cooler and crisps like the ripened apples on trees. It announces one thing. October is just around the corner. As Anne Shirley said, “I’m glad to live in a world where there are Octobers.”

But for the bookworm, October brings more than cooler weather, vibrant trees with their falling leaves, and pumpkin spice in everything from cookies to coffee. October begins the Christmas fiction reading season.

The same people who protest the encroachment of Christmas on Halloween or  Thanksgiving embrace the burst of new holiday stories on the world.  Maybe it’s because few Christmas books are so uniquely and definitively Christmassy. Or, perhaps it’s just that so many of them begin during autumn.

Whatever the reason, while I’ll turn up my nose at ornaments and evergreen boughs at my favorite stores for the next six or eight weeks, I’m anxious to read this year’s Christmas novels as much as the next bibliophile. But where to start?

Well, I requested review copies of several books, and A Tale of Two Hearts was one of the first.  I chose well.  Just sayin’.

Why This Is a Perfect October Christmas Read

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.  Additionally, I requested a review copy of the book. Opinions are mine and given freely.

Why This Is a Perfect October Christmas Read

Michelle Griep has done it again!  Last year’s 12 Days at Bleakly Manor (link goes to my review) was a beautiful story full of rich Dickensian characters,  and I did fear that this one wouldn’t rise up to the bar she’d set. I shouldn’t have worried.

With characters who feel very  much like they could have stepped right out of the pages of any Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Hearts holds all the appeal of that wonderful storyteller’s characters and yet they are clearly Ms. Griep’s.

Will is earnest, determined, and oh, so wonderfully flawed. Every choice he makes digs him deeper into his hole of deception.

Mina, like many of Dickens’ young women, is strong and honorable, even—if not especially—when she’s been led in something against her will.

As with the last book, I know we’re supposed to see specific characters in Will, Mina, Mr. Barlow, and Miss Whymsey, I suspect I saw different ones.  I found John from Our Mutual Friend in Will—that duplicity for the good of another really shone there.  In Mina, I saw a mesh of Little Dorrit and her sister, Fanny.  She starts with Amy Dorrit’s heart and Fanny’s longings and learns to embrace the life she has—just as Amy always did and Fanny never did.  Again, I know it’s not what I was supposed to glean from the book, but it’s what I did.

One of the most important reasons that it is a perfect October Christmas read is that the spiritual truths woven into the story are exactly the ones we need to read and remember as the year comes to a close. Lessons on others before self, honesty in all your dealings, second chances… and third.  Because isn’t that what the Lord did for us?  Aren’t we called to become like Him?

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Ms. Griep has done her research well. Not a single thing felt anachronistic. I also recommend it to those who enjoy Dickens’ works.  Rather than being retellings or involving him so much that it would be a disappointment, these are inspired by his stories and stand alone.  I believe Dickens himself would read and love them.

Even if you don’t enjoy Christmas, I think you’d enjoy this story about two people, the lessons they need to learn, and how those lessons knit together two hearts in this delightful but not overly-sappy Christmas tale.

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Comments

  1. Julie Waldron says

    October 16, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    This sounds like a wonderful book to read during the holiday season.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 16, 2018 at 3:27 pm

      It really is!

      Reply
  2. carylkane says

    October 8, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    I love Michelle Griep’s books! I’m excited to read A Tale of Two Hearts!

    Reply
  3. Sonja says

    October 5, 2018 at 7:25 am

    This is a wonderful author!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 6, 2018 at 11:01 pm

      she really is.

      Reply
  4. Christi Flores says

    October 4, 2018 at 12:11 am

    Wonderful review!! Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 4, 2018 at 11:38 am

      Thanks! It’s a wonderful book!

      Reply
  5. Teri DiVincenzo says

    October 3, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    Dickens, Victorian drinking chocolate AND Christmas? You can’t go wrong! This looks like such a perfect negotiator the holiday reading season!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 3, 2018 at 10:42 pm

      Right? 😀

      Reply
  6. Michelle Griep says

    October 3, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    I always love your sweet reviews!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 3, 2018 at 10:43 pm

      Truth is truth. You just happen to make it easy to write nice truths. 🙂

      Reply
  7. realworldbiblestudy says

    October 2, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    Okay, okay…I admit that I did NOT sign up to review a single Christmas book (I think) because I get a little tired of them. But this one sounds like so much fun!

    Reply
    • Michelle Griep says

      October 3, 2018 at 6:53 pm

      Well, I surely had fun writing it!

      Reply
      • Chautona Havig says

        October 3, 2018 at 10:45 pm

        It shows!

        Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 3, 2018 at 10:44 pm

      It really is. It’s a wonderful story that just happens to work extra well at Christmas!

      Reply
  8. Paula Shreckhise says

    October 2, 2018 at 12:27 pm

    I loved the first in the Dickens Christmas series and am anxious to read A Tale of Two Hearts! Love Michelle’s writing!

    Reply
    • Michelle Griep says

      October 3, 2018 at 6:54 pm

      I’m anxious for you to read it as well, Paula!

      Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      October 3, 2018 at 10:44 pm

      Yep! The first was the first I’d read. It will never be the last. The Innkeeper’s Daughter was a huge favorite, too.

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 482: A Chat with Lara d'Entremont
byChautona Havig

When Lara d’Entremont began describing her YA portal fantasy, The Painted Fairytale, I knew this would be right up my alley. Listen in and see how art becomes the portal to other worlds!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Portal fantasy is my favorite, so I was crazy excited to learn about this one–especially the art tie-in. I can’t wait to dive in myself.

We chatted about her characters, the world, and the faith that connects them.

The Painted Fairytale by Lara d’Entremont

Seventeen-year-old Wren Devine refuses to share her art with anyone-other than her parents and her sister (who died three years prior). But when her mother submits her artwork to a mentorship program, and she gets accepted, Wren is forced to display her artwork for the eccentric Professor Hayes. Despite her fears, Wren hopes this mentorship will finally make her as worthy as her sister.

But this mentorship is about more than painting.

Wren soon learns that she has a magical ability to turn her paintings into portals to travel not only to other places but also to another world entirely. An eerie children’s book in the professor’s classroom reveals a wicked pirate with a vengeance who has her eye on Stefan Branson, a former student of Professor Hayes.

As all four of these lives intersect, it becomes apparent that everyone has a secret–some more deadly than others. The longer these secrets brew, the more deadly and heavy they become, and possibly lead to never seeing her former, earthly realm again. Wren must not only learn to release the shadow of her beloved sister but step boldly into her own world.

Learn more about Lara on her WEBSITE and follow her on GoodReads.or on Subtack.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 482: A Chat with Lara d'Entremont
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