"'I don't know how to move on from this grief.'
"You don't move on,' he said. "You move forward.'
Grieving didn't just happen - grieving was hard work."
Many readers are aware of A Home for the Holidays by Taylor Hahn since it was a Book of the Month pick. I'm glad this not-so-typical Christmas story received lots of attention. At least one of its themes of grief, addiction, mother-daughter relationships, music, and found family is likely to connect with a wide variety of readers.
I appreciated that the plot has middle-aged (and older) characters dealing mostly realistically with hard things during the holiday season. It was interesting for an adult daughter to learn about a completely unknown aspect of her mother's life from a stranger. I could relate to the daughter's integration into another family as I had similar experiences (under very different circumstances) as a teen and young adult.
The speed and convenience of the relationships felt unrealistic; the romance moved exceedingly fast, and one party was still married. The ending wrapped up details a bit too neatly for my taste, but this wasn't surprising in a holiday story.
Thank you to Knopf for the review copy of this novel.
"You don't move on,' he said. "You move forward.'
Grieving didn't just happen - grieving was hard work."
Many readers are aware of A Home for the Holidays by Taylor Hahn since it was a Book of the Month pick. I'm glad this not-so-typical Christmas story received lots of attention. At least one of its themes of grief, addiction, mother-daughter relationships, music, and found family is likely to connect with a wide variety of readers.
I appreciated that the plot has middle-aged (and older) characters dealing mostly realistically with hard things during the holiday season. It was interesting for an adult daughter to learn about a completely unknown aspect of her mother's life from a stranger. I could relate to the daughter's integration into another family as I had similar experiences (under very different circumstances) as a teen and young adult.
The speed and convenience of the relationships felt unrealistic; the romance moved exceedingly fast, and one party was still married. The ending wrapped up details a bit too neatly for my taste, but this wasn't surprising in a holiday story.
Thank you to Knopf for the review copy of this novel.
