Happy holidays to you, however you celebrate!
In today’s post, I focus on Christmas Bells, a novel sparked by a 19th-century poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
How could a poem written over 160 years ago lead to a time slip historical novel, set both in the era of the U.S. Civil War and the war in Afghanistan in the early decades of the 2000s?
Author Jennifer Chiaverini inserts the words of the poem at various points in the novel, and she cleverly alternates between the Longfellow family’s encounter with the Civil War, which sticks close to history, and a parallel fictional story set in the early 2000s.
Characters:
The author puts readers under the characters’ skins, so readers feel what they’re going through and root for them
Major Characters in the Civil War-era story:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—protagonist, poet and abolitionist, father of a large family
Fanny Longfellow—Henry’s second wife, from a wealthy family
Charley Longfellow—oldest son of Henry and Fanny; he has a passion to fight for the Union Army
Main characters in the story set in the 2000s:
Sophia—young, idealistic music teach and choir director
Lucas—graduate student and choir accompanist
Father Ryan—sympathetic Catholic priest
Sister Winifred—aging nun whose humble manner belies her spiritual wisdom
Laurie—wife of soldier in Afghanistan, mother of Alex and Charlotte
Alex and Charlotte—kids who cope, each in their own way, with their father’s absence
Strengths:
• I enjoyed reading about the idealism and principled lives of Henry W. Longfellow and several other major characters
• Nice balance between tragic events and hopeful plot arcs
Weakness:
Some plot elements in the fact-based plot were hard to believe, even though they were evidently true.
Content review:
Descriptions of illness, injuries, and war-related violence make this novel better suited for mature readers.
My recommendation:
Readers who enjoy novels with a positive perspective will find Christmas Bells a welcome relief in the current era.