I am delighted to share my review today for a lovely festive book, A Gift Called Hope by Eva Jordan. This is such a wonderful and heartwarming story and I adored it. I have read several books by this author and have thoroughly enjoyed them.

A heartfelt novel of a Christmas shadowed by loss and regret—and brightened by hope for renewal—from the author of Time Will Tell.

Six-year-old Jack is counting the days to Christmas. But his grandmother is just counting the days until it’s over. For Jill, the holiday comes with painful memories, and she wants only to escape the recent past and its tragedies.

She’s moved and started a new life running a food truck in Widmore Bay, a quaint seaside town, in order to flee her agonising history.

It’s only for little Jack’s sake that Jill tolerates the tree and decorations. She just wants to spend Christmas with the curtains drawn, reading a book and drinking coffee.

But this season, she may stumble onto a miracle that restores joy—and hope—in her heart . . .

MY REVIEW

this is such a wonderful story to read. The story is about the loss of a loved one and how family members react and deal with the following grief. For a 6-year-old with Christmas coming up, it is all about excitement, for a parent it is about trying to hide the grief, for a sibling it is trying to cope with a missing brother.

The author has created such a heartbreaking story about the unexpected death. While the dates of loved family members are always something to be remembered it is more poignant when those dates fall on days when it is a time for celebration, such as Christmas. every year the heartache of not having them there is a constant reminder, but the author shows how different members of her fictional family are dealing with things.

They say there are 5 stages of grief and I think the author pretty much covers those with her characters. This makes for such an engaging story and one that is sad but also has that glimmer of hope, and this is what makes the title so good.

There is a small cast of characters but ones that all have an important role to play, and how they are incorporated into the story is great as they become not only a support system but also friends. Sometimes when things get tough you need a friend to tell you how they see things rather than trying not to upset a member of the family.

This is a gorgeous story and one that does have a Christmas theme, but it is one moment in the calendar, however, it does become a huge shadow. It is a shadow that needs to be talked about and therefore to let the light in for everyone concerned.

If you are a fan of contemporary fiction then this is one I would definitely recommend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eva Jordan was born in Kent but has lived most of her life in a small Cambridgeshire town. She describes herself as a lover of words, books, travel and chocolate, and is also partial to the odd glass of wine.

Her career has been varied and has included working for the library service and in a women’s refuge. She is currently working on her 4th novel, writes a monthly column for a local magazine, and writes book reviews which she posts on her blog, where you’ll also find some fascinating author interviews. Storytelling through the art of writing is her passion and as a busy mum and step mum, and grandmother, Eva says she is never short of inspiration for her family based dramas!

It was the women in Eva’s life, including her mother, daughters, and good friends, that inspired her to write her debut novel, 183 TIMES A YEAR, which was then followed by ALL THE COLOURS IN BETWEEN, and finally TIME WILL TELL, all of which can be read as stand alone novels but are all part of THE TREE OF FAMILY LIFE TRILOGY. Modern stories exploring domestic love, hate, strength and friendship, set amongst the thorny realities of today’s divided and extended families.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx