Book review: Coming Home for Christmas by Julia Williams
12 Nov
Cat needs to get off the ‘has-been’ heap and rescue her flagging TV career but the demands of her extended family are reaching fever pitch and she barely has time to breathe. Meanwhile, Pippa has got too many balls to juggle as a struggling single mum trying to hang on to her family farm. And Marianne’s marriage is looking distinctly rocky now her beloved husband’s ex is back on the scene.Happy Christmas? Forget it.But Christmas is a time for miracles, and when the villagers learn they must fight for what they love, it becomes clear that there is festive magic in the air.Suddenly for Cat, Pippa and Marianne, it’s looking like it might just be a Christmas to remember …
I think publishers have surpassed themselves with their Christmas covers this year and Coming Home For Christmas is another great example – I just couldn’t say no and was pleased to find a heart warming and engaging story about the residents of the fabulously named village of Hope Christmas inside.
This is the third Christmassy novel that Julia Williams has set in Hope Christmas but don’t let that put you off if you haven’t read the others. I haven’t read any of the others and I enjoyed this one well as a standalone. For fans of the series, I can see that it will be a treat to catch up with familiar characters and the new developments in their lives.
I must admit that I was a little surprised though when the story wizzed past Christmas Day within the first few chapters! Coming Home for Christmas runs through a year in the lives of Pippa, Marianne and Cat and their families and there are little Christmas flashes through the story so although this novel isn’t as overtly Christmassy as I’d imagined it would be, the theme is still there. I loved that many of the characters had festive names, for example Noel and Gabriel.
The story centres around three main characters and their families and has a huge cast of characters. As I read I really did feel like I was part of the community and I was as horrified as most of the residents when the proposal to build a luxury resort in the middle of the town’s farms was mooted.
There is lots for readers to identify with in the individuals whose lives are detailed; Pippa is struggling with the break up of her marriage and moving on to a new life and possible new love; Cat is juggling her job and a myriad of childcare responsibilities as well as an upset Mother in Law and Marrianne struggles as her husband’s past collides with the present in the form of his ex wife Eve.
Julia does an excellent job of bringing out the emotion and humor in everyone’s stories and I thought she got the balance just right between the two. There’s a lot to talk about in this book and Julia isn’t afraid to touch on some hard-hitting topics such as teenage parents, mental illness and the effects of ageing on careers and relationships. While all of the stories held my interest it was Pippa and Dan’s that stood out and really captured my attention. Dan’s diary entries to himself stood out to me and were particularly poignant.
As the family dramas play out against the threat of the new development the story keeps up a good pace and throws up more than one surprise! If you’re a fan of Cathy Woodman’s books and Cathy Bramley’s new Ivy Lane series, I think you’ll enjoy Coming Home for Christmas too!
4/5
Coming Home for Christmas is out now in paperback and ebook formats.
Find out more about Julia Williams and her books at: http://www.juliawilliamsauthor.com/
I’d like to thank LightBrigade PR for providing a review copy of this book.
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