An Irish Christmas [Hardcover]

Melody Carlson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

For Colleen, life is spinning out of control. She just lost her husband, and her relationship with her young adult son Jamie is crumbling. Should she confess to him the secret that has been haunting her for twenty years? Jamie has a few secrets of his own. When he announces his plans to join the military, Colleen decides it's time for the two of them to take a trip together--to Ireland. The truth they discover there could fulfill both their dreams in a way neither ever thought possible. An Irish Christmas is a captivating story of love, deception, and secret passions, from popular and prolific author Melody Carlson.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"I still faulted myself with the fact that I had never been over the moon for Hal.... I'd been the best wife I knew how to be, and yet, in my mind, it was never enough. Never equal to what Hal poured out over me.... And with him gone now, I felt even more like a failure--a phony. And I feared this shroud of guilt would follow me to my grave and perhaps even haunt me thereafter."

From the Back Cover

A captivating story of love, deception, and secret passions A well-hidden secret has haunted Colleen for twenty years. Her husband made her promise she would never speak of it again, but now he's gone and life seems so out of control. Will her fragile relationship with her adult son Jamie survive the truth she's hidden for so long? Jamie has a few secrets of his own--like his desire to pursue his music. But as with many things in his life, it isn't going very well. Why doesn't he seem to fit in anywhere? When Jamie announces his plans to join the military, Colleen decides it's time for the two of them to take a trip together--to Ireland. But will this trip cost her the very relationship she's trying to save? The truth they discover could change their lives in a way neither ever thought possible. This will be a Christmas they will never forget.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Revell; 1ST edition (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800718801
• ISBN-13: 978-0800718800
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,131,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melody Carlson has written around 200 books for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her books range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including the Rita and Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 stars, November 11, 2007

By 

AK "Bro" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Irish Christmas (Hardcover)

In the early sixties, a small family, recently shattered by the loss of a father and undergoing the transitional period of the son into adulthood, takes a journey to Ireland at Christmas time. Both the mother and son, Colleen and Jamie, take turns telling the story as they wrestle with inner demons and secrets they have kept from each other and that have kept them apart. Those secrets can either tear them apart forever, or bring them a touch of God's grace and hope, if they will allow His plan to unfold and not be hard hearted.

**** Although slow moving and complex, this is a touching story about imperfect people who are very real. Jamie and Colleen offer the readers hope, because they wear masks with those they love, as so many of us tend to do, unknowingly at times. The grace and love that shines through make it worth the struggle to get through the overly leisurely paced narrative. ****

Amanda Killgore

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A short and predictable story, September 19, 2009

By 

Irish of Tickettoanywhere(dot)net (Central MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Irish Christmas (Hardcover)

An Irish Christmas by Melody Carlson is a story that is told from two different points of view, that of the two main characters: Colleen Fitzgerald and her son Jaime. The story takes place in the early 1960s shortly after the loss of Colleen's husband.

I was really excited about this book but found myself disappointed in it. I often felt that the dialog was a little forced. Especially when it came to inserting slag words from the day. The plot was also horrible predictable and the characters would get on my nerves. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to reach through the pages to smack Jaime for the way that he acted towards his mother. This boy dropped out of school and lied to his parents for years.....yet he when he told his mother he got angry at her when she was upset with him for the lies. He would then blow up other little things that she would do into bigger deals then they wore for nothing else but to make her feel bad. Yet through it all she would forgive him and often agree that he was right to be mad.

The story was a fairly quick read so for that I was thankful and the writing while not stellar could have been worse. While I am not sure if this is a book that I'd recommend to others I can't say that I regret the time that I spent reading it.

[...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment, September 3, 2010

By 

GloreyB - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Irish Christmas (Hardcover)

When I take the time to read a book, I want the writing to be quality. Unfortunately I did not find this to be so in "An Irish Christmas." The dialogue was awkward and Colleen's husband - a man who "was over the moon" for her was rewarded with a mediocre, "under the bar" passive kind of wife. None of the characters were really developed including the husband who, after 20 years of marriage - his only impact on his wife and son seemed to be a couple of cliche "God quotes".