BOOK REVIEW: A Modern Midlife Christmas Carol by Alana Oxford

A Modern Midlife Christmas Carol

Christmas cheer was dead, to begin with.

The world rests on Eliza’s shoulders. The kids, her husband, work, her elderly mother, and don’t forget her newest friend: perimenopause. It’s too much to carry, but she’s been doing it for years. It’s just what a good wife and mother does, isn’t it? 

When another Christmas rolls around, Eliza is drained by all the expectations and logistics of the holiday season. She’s fast approaching her breaking point, but no one around her notices she’s on the edge.

After an incident at her in-laws on Christmas Eve brings things to a boiling point, she finds herself with three unexpected visitors. The spirits of the past, present, and future take her on a journey through her life to shake her out of the rut she’s got into. Their messages leave her with new possibilities: reconnect with her past, reclaim her present, or forge a new future.  

And you, the reader, decide which option is best! 

Purchase Links

https://books2read.com/u/3kw7gO
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DDHX2854

I've always been a huge fan of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol, not just in book form but also in its many and varied film and TV adaptations.  This feel-good Christmas ghost story has a powerful message - one which stays with the reader or viewer long after the last page has been read or the closing credits have finished rolling.

And so it is with Alana Oxford's wonderful modern interpretation of the story.  The protagonist in this tale is not a grumpy and miserly old man, but an exhausted, overworked and unappreciated middle-aged woman - someone who represents the experiences of any member of the so-called "sandwich generation".  Like Scrooge, Eliza has come to dread Christmas - not because she doesn't believe in it, but because she has lost the ability to enjoy it.  

But like Scrooge, one Christmas Eve she receives three ghostly visitations, representing Christmases past, present and future, cleverly presented in ingenious ways.  In all three cases what she discovers shocks and surprises her, changing her - and our - perception of her situation for ever.

The book is short enough to read in one sitting.  One thing I particularly loved about it is how the author offers three alternative endings, and invites the reader to decide which one is the most likely or most appropriate outcome of the story.  I am still trying to make up my mind about it!

Highly recommended.

 

Alana Oxford is a Michigan author of romcoms, sweet romance, and humorous women's fiction. She wants her stories to bring sunshine and smiles to her readers. She enjoys improv comedy, moody music, everything book related, and has an ongoing love affair with the United Kingdom.

Social Media Links –  

https://twitter.com/AlanaOxford  

https://instagram.com/AlanaOxford   

https://www.facebook.com/AlanaOxford

https://www.tiktok.com/@alanaoxford

 

Giveaway to Win an ebook of The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar (Open to UK & US Only).

Alana Oxford has kindly said that she would like to do an ebook giveaway for another author who writes charming and cozy Christmas books. A Kindle copy of The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar, which is a lovely holiday romance featuring a protagonist in her early 60s. 

*Terms and Conditions:

UK & US entries welcome.  Please click HERE to enter.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Sincere thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.

LLANDDWYN LOVERS

In Wales, today is a very special day for lovers. It is the feast of St Dwynwen (in Welsh: Llanddwyn), who is regarded by many as the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine – the patron saint of lovers.  Her feast day (25 January) is often celebrated by the Welsh with flowers and cards.

I’ve always loved the Isle of Anglesey (or, to give it its Welsh name, Ynys Môn) - so much so that for the past thirty years it has been my second home.

As well as boasting a rugged natural beauty, Anglesey is also steeped in history and folklore.  So when I was looking for a setting for my novel Never on Saturday, Anglesey was the obvious choice.

Never on Saturday is a paranormal dual-timeline romance novella, set partly in medieval France and partly in present-day North Wales.  And one of the key scenes in the novel takes place at one of Anglesey’s most picturesque locations: Llanddwyn Island.

Llanddwyn Island (in Welsh: Ynys Llanddwyn) is a remote rocky promontory, about a mile long, situated at the south-west corner of Anglesey, and forms part of the Newborough Warren nature reserve.   It is not, strictly speaking, an island, although if the tide is exceptionally high, as can be seen in this photo, it can become one for a few hours:  

According to tradition, the original Dwynwen was a fifth-century Welsh princess, one of the daughters of Brychan, a prince of Brecon.  She fell in love with a young chieftain named Maelon, but rejected his advances.  The reasons for this vary according to which version of the story you read, but the popular belief is either that Maelon tried to seduce Dwynwen before they were married, or that Dwynwen’s father had plans for her to marry someone else.  But whatever the reason, the outcome was the same: Dwynwen prayed to be released from her doomed love affair.

In answer to her prayer Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who instructed her to concoct a potion which would dispel all thoughts of love.  One source tells that the potion was made from rare herbs from Newborough Forest, mixed with a lover’s tears and beads of dew from the petals of the snapdragon.  She and her lover both drank the potion, at which point Dwynwen immediately forgot her love for Maelon.  Maelon, unfortunately, fared rather worse: he was transformed into a block of ice.

The angel appeared to Dwynwen again and granted her three wishes.  Dwynwen’s first wish was that Maelon should be restored to life.  Her second wish was that she herself should never again wish to marry, and her third wish was that all faithful lovers should find true happiness.  She then retreated to what is now Llanddwyn Island and spent the rest of her life in isolation.

Meanwhile, Maelon was restored to life in accordance with Dwynwen’s wish, and the spot where the block of ice had stood, according to tradition, became a spring of clear water.  This spring became St Dwynwen’s Well, and it soon became a popular place of pilgrimage for lovers.  It was said that a woman could test the fidelity of her lover by scattering breadcrumbs on the water then laying her handkerchief on the surface.  If the handkerchief was disturbed by one of the eels living in the well, this foretold that the lover would be faithful.

The place of pilgrimage was so popular that during Tudor times it became the richest in the area, and in the early sixteenth century a church was built on the site of Dwynwen’s original chapel.  Sadly, the church fell victim to the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, but its remains can still be seen today.

As for what happens on Llanddwyn Island in Never on Saturday, and why it is pivotal to the story, click here to find out more...

A Large Print edition, featuring a beautiful cover image of Llanddwyn Island, was released last year by Ulverscroft Books and should be available in libraries.

Never on Saturday is also available in French as Jamais le Samedi, and as an Audible audiobook, beautifully narrated by Sarah Pogson.