The first word I came up with when trying to describe this novel is lovely. It's an interesting story of eleven women whose lives collide a bit before Christmas. These women (Marnie, Charlene, Rosie, Juliet, Laurie, Alice, Jeannie, Allie, Sissy, Vera, Tracy, Taylor) all gather once a year to exchange their holiday cookies and stories behind them. Each chapter is named after a different character, begins with a recipe and ends with a story about a different ingredient or spice, presenting us with some more or less known trivia about them. I have to be honest and admit that i didn't actually read all the recipes. I can't cook and they didn't mean anything to me, so I just skipped most of them, but i guess that it could be an interesting part for someone who enjoys cooking.
I really loved the composition of The Christmas Cookie Club. It was interesting and the thing that initially drew me to read it, but it could have been implemented better. I know that the plot is based on true events and that the author participates in the real cookie club, but there are just too many characters. I know that most of us know a lot of people and a real life club can exist with more than twelve members. But it doesn't work in a book when it's only some two hundred pages long.
The Christmas Cookie Club is supposed to show us the value of friendship and love and that we can go through a lot with the help of loved ones. It manages to do so in a certain extent, but it's naive most of the time. I thought their stories weren't explored enough and that they should have been shown with a bit more insight and depth. We don't have enough time to get to know and care all of them and to understand their motivations and feelings There are just so many of them that it was difficult to follow which story belonged to who. The book would have been a lot better if it had dealt with only three or four people and their entire stories. This way, I constantly thought I was reading a draft for a really lengthy novel.
My favorite part of the book is the cover. I think it catches the essence perfectly: holidays, cookies, gifts and women walking alone into a house where they will find moments of happiness and understanding. I know there are many people who think that the cover isn't important and that it's a trivial thing to care about, but I can't help loving beautiful cover art. Each time I look at the cover my book, I can almost smell a special blend of tea I drink at Christmas time, apples and cinnamon.
 |
| My cover |
I appreciated not sugarcoating almost anything. These women are ill, they cheat and are cheated on, they fight with finances, raise their children on their own and with help. It got me thinking if any genuinely happy people exist. Of course, everyone has their own problems, but the problems of these women are difficult and feel very real. Marnie's husband passed away from cancer, her second husband cheated on her, her younger daughter, Tara, is pregnant at eighteen, her elder daughter, Sky, has had two miscarriages and a stillborn. Charlene's son died in an accident on a construction sight. Taylor lost her job and had to move out of her house. If I had written it, I would have had Sky's baby ill. I know this makes me an awful person, but I think it would have made the story a bit more realistic and I prefer unhappy endings.
The Christmas Cookie Club doesn't actually have a happy ending, it's more bittersweet. Some things have gone okay, the others not so much, but it leaves hope that something will change and that their lives will get better over time with the help of friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment