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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 475: A Chat with D. T. Powell
byChautona Havig

There aren’t enough authors willing to tackle the difficult stories. There just aren’t.  Many (guilty here!) feel inadequate to the task, want to escape the tough stuff rather than confront it–so many reasons. Listen in as I chat with D. T. Powell about what made her write, With Mercy’s Eyes.

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

 Loved chatting with Powell about her heart for those who often find it hard to interact with Christians–whose choices make others uncomfortable.  Powell shows love and compassion without ignoring Biblical truth, and the result is a powerful story we could all learn from.

With Mercy’s Eyes by D. T. Powell

He turned his back on God a long time ago. But God never forgot him.

Six months after struggling actor Lane Harris lost his husband in a tragic accident, he lands a movie role guaranteed to put him on the Hollywood map. But one producer holds the power to shut down his shot at stardom—and she’s a Christian. If she finds out he’s gay, it’s over. Lane is careful not to say too much around her.

When an alcohol-fueled tryst with his co-star ends in humiliation, and his landlord hands him an eviction notice, Lane looks for someone to talk to. He finds a confidant in the Christian producer. After a night of too little sleep and not enough coffee, he lets slip his sexual orientation. Instead of a verbal flogging, the woman recounts recently losing her own husband.

The only Christians Lane knows condemn him upon learning he’s gay. But this one is different. She doesn’t embrace his sexuality, but instead of treating him with disdain, she offers compassion. Christians are supposed to hate people like him. So, why doesn’t she? – – – – – – – With Mercy’s Eyes by D. T. Powell is an issue-facing, contemporary novel for adult churched Christians. It addresses homosexuality and same-sex attraction from a Biblical perspective without falling into the trap of the extreme responses we too often see from modern churches. It holds similar views to Jackie Hill Perry, Becket Cook, Rosaria Butterfield, and Christopher Yuan.

Learn more about on WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

 

withmercyseyes.com

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

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Episode 475: A Chat with D. T. Powell
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