It really picks me when commercials make me cry.
It picks me even more when books do it to me, because tears get all in the way, and the words get blurry and I can't keep on reading. By page twelve, I was already looking for a kleenex, but I couldn't leave The Unfinished Gift unfinished. In one sitting, I read through my tears the poignant tale of a little boy who's world has been upturned the week before Christmas.
What a beautiful book The Unfinished Gift is.
It reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie. The World War II setting provides a complicated, yet nostalgic backdrop for this novel about seven year-old Patrick Collins, who's been put by Child Services in the custody of his estranged grandfather. His mother has just been killed in a car accident, and his father is "somewhere in England" fighting in the war. Patrick meets his stern grandfather, Ian Collins, for the first time, and knows his world has changed. Through the kindness and caring of his social worker, Miss Townsend, and the widow next door, Mrs. Fortini, Patrick finds comfort, as they attempt to teach Mr. Collins to learn to reach out to his grandson, despite the rift between him and Patrick's parents. Try as they might, it takes a box of letters, a telegram, and Patrick's prayers to help the old man soften his heart toward his family and mend the hurts of the past.
I thoroughly enjoyed each and every character the author brings to the story. His characters are familiar, somehow, without falling into stereotype. He cleverly even develops the character of Patrick's mother(though the book opens after her death), which enriches the depth of the story, and shows the weight of their family's loss. It is a story of love, reconciliation, and forgiveness that is so appropriate for the Christmas season. And even though it made me cry, not once, but several times, it is well worth fighting through tears all the way to the end.
An excerpt can be read here:
http://www.revellbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780800719241.pdf
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Jen,
I have read a lot of reviews since the book was released, but I've enjoyed few more than yours. It's not just that you liked it (thankfully most have)...but you really got the whole thing. It was a joy writing The Unfinished Gift. I think I wrote it for people just like you. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year.
Dan Walsh
Thank you very much! What a compliment! Thanks for telling the story. Merry Christmas to you, too!
Jen, I am going to have to look for that book. I often read books that make me cry, but I don't cry about the same type of things in real life. Doesn't make sense! But I think that as I am getting older, the strangest things choke me up. Last night the pre-school here at our church had their Christmas program. We have no children in the school but we come to the program because my hubby is the pastor and he tells the children a Bible story once a week. At the end of the program, they turned the lights out and just had a spot light on the children while everyone was to join them in "Silent Night". Well, I was too choked up to sing with them. I hate being like that! Or, as you say, it pricks me! Oh, and congrats on the comment from the author of that book. That's quite a praise. This long comment is from Ben's mom. :-)
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