The Christmas Letters
Synopsis
[from inside flaps]
"This heartwarming story of three generations of Christmas letter writers is about family tradition, family love, family strength--the perfect story to give at Christmas, and to read yourself.
Birdie Pickett, her daughter Mary, and her granddaughter Melanie are all storytellers at heart. Their letters-- folded inside their Christmas cards-- tend to be long ones because they write to explain their lives as much to themselves as to far-flung family and friends.
Birdie writes the first one in 1944: "It is the day before Christmas and though I know I should be so happy with my own sweet angel baby Mary who lies right here beside me as I write this letter, I will tell you the truth. I am weepy, and cannot hold back my tears." Birdie's new husband, Bill Pickett, is fighting World War II in the Pacific, having left his wife and baby in his parents' care. "Well," writes Birdie, "it is the other way around, if you ask me."
Much of the story is also told through shared recipes. As Mary says, "I feel as if I have written out my life story in recipes! The Cool Whip and mushroom soup years, the hibachi and fondie period, then the quiche and crepes phase, and now it's these salsa years."
Melanie photocopies her first Christmas letter in 1996 and shares her big news: "I've started a novel ... luckily, Mom saved all of Grandma's letters."
In these vivid, familiar, gossipy letters, Lee Smith's skill at capturing women's voices renders the "clash of generations"-- heard here at very close range-- as the music of our ever- evolving American family life. It's the perfect music to listen to at Christmastime." More novels by Lee Smith are in the Bookshare Collection.
- Copyright:
- 1996 Lee Smith
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- ISBN-13:
- 9781565121560
- Publisher:
- Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
- Date of Addition:
- 2009-12-17T20:08:22Z
- Language:
- English
- Categories:
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.