Comfort & Joy: A Novel (Random House Large Print) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Kristin Hannah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2005 | Series: Random House Large Print

New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah is beloved by readers around the world for her unique blend of powerful emotion and exquisite storytelling. In Comfort & Joy, she offers a modern-day fairy tale—the story of a woman who gets a miraculous chance at happiness.

Joy Candellaro once loved Christmas more than any other time of the year. Now, as the holiday approaches, she is at a crossroads in her life; recently divorced and alone, she can’t summon the old enthusiasm for celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a ticket and boards a plane bound for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. When an unexpected detour takes her deep into the woods of the Olympic rainforest, Joy makes a bold decision to leave her ordinary life behind—to just walk away—and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

In the small town of Rain Valley, six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without a mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world, talking only to his invisible best friend. His father Daniel is beside himself, desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, these two unlikely souls form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.     

But not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart, and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist, and go in search of what she wants . . . and the new life only she can find.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's the last day before Christmas vacation, and Joy Faith Candellaro, a Bakersfield, Calif., high school librarian, is still fretting over finding her husband, Thom, in bed with her sister, Stacey. Although divorced nearly three months—and urged by everyone to move on with her life—Joy just isn't joyful. She's trying, though: she buys a Christmas tree and plans to get herself something spectacular to put under it. Too bad that Stacey's waiting in her driveway with a wedding invitation and the news that she's pregnant with Thom's child. Enraged and betrayed, Joy drives off—and ends up at the airport, holding a ticket to Hope, Canada. What will she do when she gets there? Who cares? All she knows is that life has to be better elsewhere. What happens next is Hannah's version of a Christmas ghost story, as Joy encounters a father and son whose own misery gives her a new perspective. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love) fans will enjoy this fare, but from the subtle-as-a-50-pound-fruitcake irony of Joy Faith's name to a plot twist that necessitates hanging disbelief on the mantel alongside the Christmas stockings, it may be a bit too much for the more skeptical to swallow. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

“Happy, hopeful and très romantique.”—Hartford Courant
 
“[Kristin Hannah’s] best book yet.”—The Columbus Dispatch
 
“Hannah will touch the deepest corner of your heart.”—Rendezvous
 
“An engaging holiday tale.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer
 
“A heartwarming holiday tale [that] resonates with poignancy and deep emotion.”—Romantic Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Random House Large Print (November 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375435395
• ISBN-13: 978-0375435393
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 1.1 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #792,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California and grew up at the beach, making sand castles and playing in the surf. When she was eight years old, her father drove the family to Western Washington which they called home.

After working in a trendy advertising agency, Kristin decided to go to law school. "But you're going to be a writer" are the prophetic words she would never forget from her mother. Kristin was in her third-and final-year of law school and her mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Kristin was shocked to discover that her mother believed she would become a writer. For the next few months, they collaborated on the worst, most clichéd historical romance ever written.

After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. By the time she'd read every book in the house and started asking her husband for cereal boxes to read, she knew she was a goner. That's when her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

The rejections came, of course, and they stung for a while, but each one really just spurred her to try harder, work more. In 1990, Kristin got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she have never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable novel, December 28, 2009

By 

M "CultOfStrawberry" (I wait behind the wall, gnawing away at your reality) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Comfort & Joy: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

If I find this enjoyable, why only three stars? Well, the book starts off with a fantastic premise that should interest most readers. Joy's sister slept with her ex-husband, whoops, and then Sis invites Joy to her wedding. Feeling pretty terrible (as you can imagine) Joy decides to 'run away' and has quite the experience that readers should enjoy reading about. I know I did. Yes, it requires a slight suspension of belief, but it was still fun to read. Then, bam! There's a pretty big surprise at the end, but don't worry, it gets better. I was rather satisfied with it overall.

But what made me drop the rating to a 3 was the fact that Joy just forgave her sister. Bam, just like that, let's sweep it all under the rug. That will let Sis and ex-hubby think that what they did to her really was no big deal, and it makes light of adultery. There are some things that should never be done, and when joy forgave them, she was just this... doormat. I was terribly disappointed in that after seeing her character develop nicely before.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tries Hard, April 12, 2007

By 

drebbles (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Comfort & Joy: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Heartbroken after her husband falls in love with her sister, who is now pregnant with his child, Joy Candellaro impulsively decides to leave town right before Christmas and hops on a plane to Canada to get away. But her plane crashes and Joy wanders away only to end up at a fishing lodge owned by Daniel O'Shea, who has a young son, Bobby. Joy immediately bonds with Bobby who is still dealing with his mother's tragic death. She doesn't bond as easily with Daniel who has problems of his own - he was divorced from Bobby's mother and is struggling to establish a relationship with his young son. But just when Joy thinks she might be falling in love with Daniel, she is pulled away from them and has to fight her way back. While trying to do so, she begins to realize that things aren't what they seem and she begins to question what is and what isn't real. But in her heart, she knows she needs to find Daniel and Bobby before she'll be whole again.

"Comfort and Joy" is a unique type or romance and while it doesn't quite work in the end, Kristen Hannah deserves a lot of credit for attempting it. Joy is a believable heroine, devastated and needing to get away after the betrayal of her husband and sister. Bobby is very cute and very real, prone to having imaginary friends and seeing his dead mother, he very much needs loving parents. Unfortunately, not only because the book is from Joy's viewpoint but because of the whole premise of the book, Daniel is never a fully developed character and the romance between him and Joy never really worked for me. The book is divided into two parts and the second section goes in a totally different, Sixth Sense type of direction that may take readers off guard. It wasn't until I reread certain parts of the book that I realized how cleverly Hannah devised certain plot lines (like the way Joy was able to play games with Bobby and Daniel and a phone call she made) and how she placed little hints as to what was going on. Again, it ultimately didn't work, but it was a good attempt and well done.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect book for the holiday season., November 7, 2005

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comfort & Joy: A Novel (Hardcover)

Joy Candellaro used to LOVE the Christmas season. But after finding out about her husband and her sister, Joy is not feeling very joyful. Tired of it all, she hops on a plane and disappears from her frustrating life - at least for a little while.

Daniel O'Shea is a widow with an eight-year-old son, Bobby, who is about to have his first Christmas without his mother. Bobby is not adjusting too well and is making it harder on Daniel. In fact, Bobby seems to be distancing himself from the world around him and slipping into deep depression.

Then Joy and Bobby meet. These two disillusioned people may be able to help each other ... and Daniel as well.

***** In my opinion, this is one of the best novels I've read for this year's holiday season. Author Kristin Hannah has proven time-and-time-again that she has an almost mystical way of making her readers empathize with her characters. This story is no different. You will be snared quickly and be in no rush to free yourself. Awesome! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.