Book Review: The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere

Title: The Christmas Shoes

Author: Donna VanLiere

# Of Pages: 144

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: October 26, 2044

Level: Adult

Rating: 5 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Amazon.com)

Sometimes, the things that can change your life will cross your path in one instant-and then, in a fleeting moment, they're gone. But if you open your eyes, and watch carefully, you will believe....

Robert is a successful attorney who has everything in life-and nothing at all. Focused on professional achievement and material rewards, Robert is on the brink of losing his marriage. He has lost sight of his wife, Kate, their two daughters, and ultimately himself. Eight-year-old Nathan has a beloved mother, Maggie, whom he is losing to cancer. But Nathan and his family are building a simple yet full life, and struggling to hold onto every moment they have together. A chance meeting on Christmas Even brings Robert and Nathan together-he is shopping for a family he hardly knows and Nathan is shopping for a mother he is soon to lose. In this one encounter, their lives are forever altered as Robert learns an important lesson: sometimes the smallest things can make all the difference. The Christmas Shoes is a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity, a tale of our shared humanity, and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives.

My Verdict

So technically this is an adult book, but there is nothing in it that makes it unsuitable for a younger audience, the only difference is that the main characters are not teenagers.

As my mom called it, this was a 52-handkerchief book. I had to keep putting the book down to go grab a tissue, that is until about my fifth time up when I finally just grabbed the box. Although this story is a tearjerker, it is also very uplifting, and heart warming at the same time.

The story is centered around two different families. Robert, his wife, two daughters, and mother and also eight year-old Nathan, his mother, father, sister, and grandmother. It might sound like a lot to follow but its not. The book is constantly jumping from family to family, and changing perspective, which did get confusing a couple of times where I wouldn’t know who was talking at first, but if I just read a few more sentences I could always figure it out.

This is book one in author Donna VanLieres’ Christmas Hope Series and I look forward to reading the rest! I already have a copy of The Christmas Promise, which I’ve already started.