“A Town Divided by Christmas is a short tale that repays thoughtful reading. The characters are varied and engaging. It works through complex human concerns to arrive at answers that surprise and entertain. It is a compelling Hallmark Christmas movie in prose. It is a parable for our times.” – Deseret News

Title: A Town Divided by Christmas
Author: Orson Scott Card
Publication Date: November 2018
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Genre: Romance, Christmas Story, Holiday Fiction
Number of pages: 134

Synopsis

It began with a quarrel over which newborn should be the baby Jesus in the town’s Christmas pageant. Decades later, two scientists arrive to study small-town genetic patterns, only to run up against the invisible walls that split the leading citizens into two congregations that can only be joined by love and forgiveness. And maybe a little deception, because there might be some things that people just don’t need to know.

My Review

This is just a very delightful and funny novella by Orson Scott Card. I found the banter back and forth with the characters quite refreshing in its genuineness. Finding out what truly divided this small town of Good Shepherd, North Carolina; will absolutely have you saying, “wait, whatt? No way! So we definitely have some mystery going on here.

Right at the beginning, we meet Spunky (really?😅) Dr. Delilah Spunk, and Dr. Elyon Dewey, both post-doc researchers, one in economics the other in genetics. These two scientists are about to work together for the first time and neither is happy about that prospect. Elyon has no social skills whatsoever, most of the time he just comes off as condescending or rude.

The relentless extrovert with zero social skills.

They’re sent to Good Shepherd, North Carolina by their professor to do a study on genetic patterns.

This is a very religious Town, that celebrates Christmas to its fullest. I mean practically everyone goes to church there.

These people have actual working feet. They aren’t just squishy driver worms inside cars.

Soon we’re introduced to Eggie (ah! come on😅) the Alderman of the Town and to the Town itself. The study begins with interviews and the collection of DNA samples from the town’s people.

They soon learn that the town has been divided for almost 90 years, wow! that is a long time to feud about something. Anyway, it turns out that the feud began when they couldn’t decide which baby to use to play the baby Jesus in their Nativity pageant. Can you believe because of this, these two churches that faced each other across the Town Square had, the same name, I mean they looked identical. There. was. no. difference.

There are many things that can divide us, whether it be religion, science, how and where we live, educated, uneducated, there always seems to be something that divides us. This Christmas at least, let us all harmonize and ask for peace with each other

This book gives you a couple of sweet romances, that makes you wonder, will this turned into one of those Hallmark Christmas movies that you watch with sometimes guilty pleasure every Christmas😊? There’s actually quite a few funny references about hallmark movies.

It’s a humorous and entertainingly quirky read. It’s one of those reads where you sit infront of the fire or curl up on the couch with a nice cup of tea, wearing your reading socks and your cat or dog beside you along for the read.

I want to thank Mandy Earles at Blackstone Publishing for sending me a hard-copy of A Town Divided by Christmas.

About the Author

Orson Scott Card, the author of the New York Times bestseller Ender’s Game, has won several Hugo and Nebula awards for his works of speculative fiction. His Ender novels are widely read by adults and younger readers and are increasingly used in schools. Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy, American-frontier fantasy, biblical novels, poetry, plays, and scripts.

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