Customer Reviews

Christmas Every Morning

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was awesome; I cried healing tears as I read it. As the daughter of a woman who has mental health issues, and also as a mother of adult children who carried my own issues into my children's lives, I could relate strongly to this book. The messages received by this writer were: it is never too late to begin healing, our entire perspective on life can change if we only allow God to work in our lives, God wants us to be healthy, real love is not only about our feelings but is about committment and about seeing other's as God sees them, and the human spirit is indeed a mighty warrior. As a social worker I will use this book with select clients to help facilitate healing and peace. This is indeed a life changing book. Thank you, Lisa!

Christmas Every Morning is one of the best books I've read all year and in my opinion the best book Lisa Bergren has ever written! The troubled relationship between Krista Mueller and her mother Charlotte is as authentic as it is complex. There is intensity and depth to the ravages of Alzheimer's that makes you want to call your mother to tell her you love her. Lisa Bergren avoids the trap of stereotypical pat solutions, offering a story that will keep you reading late into the night, get out the Kleenex for Christmas Every Morning!
-Traci DePree, author of A Can of Peas

Lisa Tawn Bergren's "Christmas Every Morning" (not to be confused with Christmas Every Day by William Dean Howells) is the story of Krista, a history professor in Colorado, her mother, an Alzheimer's patient in an amazing facility in New Mexico, and Dane, Krista's childhood love and the owner of the facility.

Krista returns to New Mexico when it appears that her mother is nearing the end of her life. As Krista awaits the inevitable, she discovers her mother's diary of sorts, a weathered copy of "Christmas Carols of the World." (I don't believe there is an actual book--or at least I couldn't find evidence of a copy, but here's a similar title: Christmas Carols From Around The World.) Inside, Krista's mother has written sporadically, giving Krista a window to a past that she does not remember fondly at all.

Throughout Krista's journey to forgiveness--for that is indeed the driving force of the novel--, she has three sources of strength. The first is Doña Elena, a longtime friend and amazing source of support. The second is Dane, with whom she may or may not be rekindling a long-dormant romance. The third is God, in whom Krista puts increasingly more faith. All three of these relationships play a vital role in Krista's life during the story.

I found the plot generally effective though at times predictable, and the characters realistic. I do not thing this novel is great literature, but it is effective in its sensitive portrayal of the difficulties in forgiving and letting go.

I'm biased in favor of this book because I took the jacket photograph of St. Jerome Chapel at Taos Pueblo. I'm grateful to Lisa Tawn Bergren and Waterbrook Press for selecting my image for the cover.

Treating the world with compassion lies at the heart of everything whether you hear Soto Zen, Islamic or Christian tradition in your heart. Lisa's story of a daughter loving her mother again and forgiving herself reminded me of how difficult forgiveness for my father was. That forgiveness and my realization that he always did the best he could made our adult relationship close again before the strokes that eventually took his life. Lisa's story populated Taos with characters I grew to love, and makes me treasure my 84-year-old mother all the more.

Without going into detail, I forgave my Mom for everything in our past, but she died (almost two years ago) never forgiving me. I couldn't stop crying reading this book. In spite of the sadness in my heart, I loved it. I hope Ms. Bergren will continue writing books that touch the heart so much.

While I love Lisa Tawn Bergren's other books, I would not order this one because I hate books written in first person. If you feel the same way, you may want to pass this one up.