Review: Christmas in Harmony by Philip Gulley
He's got a great new idea for the town’s Christmas Eve! Um, maybe?
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Contemporary Fiction | Small-Town Fiction | Humor | Novella
Christmas in Harmony by Philip Gulley
Description
Always looking for a way to increase the church’s profit margins, Dale Hinshaw brainstorms a progressive nativity scene that will involve the whole town of Harmony, complete with a map like those for the Hollywood stars. Neither Quaker pastor Sam Gardner nor the other members of the Harmony Friends meeting express any enthusiasm for this idea, but Dale is unstoppable.
My Thoughts
Don’t look at the warm and lovely cover of this Christmas novella and get the notion that it must just be a sweet, sweet, sweet little holiday tale.
Ironic, Hilarious, Poignant
Not unlike other books in the Harmony series, this one is ironic. A tad irreverent in a spot or two (but not vulgar). Downright hilarious. And it has a poignant thread running through it that, doggone it, left me with a bona fide tear in my eye.
Now, also like one other book in the series so far, Sam’s first-person narration is fine for himself, but it doesn’t really make sense when he starts narrating about other people and somehow knows their thoughts. There’s also a bit of trouble with verb tenses, when the narration of one event or another will switch from present to past tense or vise versa.
Nevertheless, I found it to be such a satisfying read, not limited to the warm sentiments reflected in the lovely cover but altogether warm (and hilarious!) and lovely just the same.
Like what you see here?
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