A review by Spencer
 |
| by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman, Sarah Sundin |
“It’s amazing, don’t you think, that the holiday spirit can be so strong even in the midst of war?”
Where Treetops Glisten is a compilation of three
novellas about the Turner family during the Second World War. The book,
as well as each novella, is titled after timeless Christmas songs: White
Christmas, I’ll
Be Home for Christmas, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The stories are interconnected without a glitch;
revealing the tragedies and triumphs the family endures during the early 1940s.
The novellas, though intertwined, serve well as stand-alones, each centering on
a Turner sibling.
White
Christmas,
by Cara Putman, takes place in
Lafayette, Indiana, on Christmas Eve, 1941. Abigail Turner, a vivacious college
student, has a chance meeting with Jackson Lucas, a mysterious young man who
rescues her from being hit by a car. An attraction is evident almost
instantaneously, but Abigail has vowed to guard her heart, still aching from
the loss of her fiancé who died in the war. After getting to know each other,
Jackson reveals a legal issue weighs him down. Abigail invites him to
speak to her father, a successful lawyer, who may be able to help. This results
in a tangle of issues and emotions.
My
thoughts on this story of finding the courage to love are mixed. The story is
nostalgic, innocent, and charming. Abigail is likable, and Jackson, somewhat
dreamy, yet it was difficult for me to become totally immersed in the story. It
felt very “vanilla” and needed a little more punch, a little more spice, or a
little more…something. This isn’t to say I wasn’t invested in Jackson’s
dilemma, or Abigail’s struggle to protect her heart, I was. The feel of this
novella is somewhat young, as if it were written more for a teen. That probably
has to do with the nostalgic, more simplistic time of the 1940s.
White
Christmas
is a saccharine sweet story of love and courage.
I’ll Be Home
for Christmas, by Sarah Sundin, is multi-layered with hope, faith, forgiveness, and peace. Lieutenant Pete
Turner returns to 1943 Indiana, after his combat tour piloting a P-47
Thunderbolt fighter plane over Nazi-occupied Europe. He’s burdened with the
ravages of war and hopes to gain some calm and quiet in his life. When he
encounters Linnie, a lost little girl, on the snowy streets of Lafayette, the
opposite of calm enters his world. After his search to find Linnie’s mother,
Grace Kessler, his heart finds its smile. Grace is much different than he expected,
and his burdens become lighter—for a little while, anyway. An unexpected time
in the past finds its way back into Pete’s relationship with Grace, and
everything gained could soon be lost.
I
love this story of finding love! Grace Kessler is intelligent and fervent, and
her relationship with her daughter, though wearisome, is incredibly touching. I
like that Grace, though a widow struggling to keep things together for her
daughter, isn’t portrayed as a weak woman in need of a rescuer. I also like
that Pete has his own weaknesses and might need a rescuer of his own. I was
totally absorbed in this triangle of a story. Grace, Pete, and little Linnie
are complex characters with vibrant personalities. The secondary characters are colorful as well and add to the charm of
this Christmastime tale.
I’ll Be Home
for Christmas is a captivating,
delightful treat that leaves me fully sated.
Have Yourself
a Merry Little Christmas, by Tricia Goyer, shows that overcoming our fears, and trusting God, will see us through even our darkest hours. It opens during the winter of 1944, in Nieuwenhagen, Netherlands in the frontlines
of the war. Meredith (Merry) Turner currently
works at a makeshift hospital (formerly a schoolhouse) where she prays for and
nurses injured American and German soldiers. Not only is this youngest sibling
of the Turner family burdened with the ravages of war, but also the heartbreak
from being lied to and abandoned by her former love, a music teacher named
David. God works in mysterious ways,
but can Merry find peace amidst so many injuries and death?
This
story centers on Meredith, the youngest of the Turner siblings,
and her search for truth and healing. In my opinion, it’s the most heartrending
of the three. Meredith, David, and the secondary characters jump off the page,
full of passion, grief, and even joy and tenderness. I became immersed in
Meredith’s story—In her range of emotions, her strength, her weaknesses, and
her longing for home. This story is a memorable one, and provides a rewarding closure.
Have Yourself
a Merry Little Christmas moved me to tears, and brought the trio of novellas full circle.
Overall,
Where
Treetops Glisten is a fulfilling holiday book, readying me for the
approaching Christmas season. I love how the authors were inspired by the Christmas
songs of the WWII era, capitalized references to God, and imparted a
familiarity of days gone by that gives a wistful, realistic portrayal of life
in the 1940s.
Book Bonus (in the back of the book):
·
Cookie Exchange: Four Christmas cookie
recipes.
·
Readers Guide: Questions for book clubs and personal introspection.
·
A Chat With Authors: Revealing a behind the scenes of this collaboration.
·
About the Authors: Photos, bios, social media pages, and websites.
Publisher: Waterbrook
Press
Page Count: 368
Book Rating:
On the same page?
and 
Disclosure of Material Connection in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: BloggingForBooks has provided me a copy of this book in exchange for a
review.
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