Customer Reviews

THE SANTA SHOP

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a truly engaging story; once started, putting it down was NOT an option. It is rare to find a book that allows you to feel as though you walk the journey yourself. The social undertones of The Santa Shop with its vivid portrayal of homelessness brought me through the currents of life that can sweep any person to that place. The author has done a wonderful job of bringing together the despair that so many feel in the holiday season and the hope that can be found even when your not looking for it. This a very well written novel that captures the meaning of Christmas in a way that is rarely depicted. I think it's a must read and I am so glad I did!

I normally have a set outline for reviews, but this book has left such an impression on me that I felt compelled to deviate from that format. There is a good reason for this and I will explain. This story is about a man who had a horrible Christmas experience that brought him to a suicidal state one year after that tragic incident. For me, I have never been suicidal, but Christmas has always been an emotional time for me due to similar reasons. My mother died just two weeks before Christmas when I was nine years old. The doctors knew she wouldn't make it and warned my family to prepare for her upcoming death. Brain cancer had left her in a very weakened state, but she wanted to see me and my younger brother open our gifts one last time. So we celebrated early with her that year. Then just a few days later, the cancer won the battle and took her from us. When the actual time for Christmas arrived, my father, brother, and I were in a rather depressed state. A few small, cheap gifts were exchanged. My father was trying, in his own way, but he wasn't our mother who did Christmas in a big way. Also, despite medical insurance, the cost of cancer had left us nearly destitute.

We tried to hang in there that first year. My father attempted to play the dual role of mom and dad, but eventually his depression caught up with him. Alcohol became his alternative and what money we had went toward feeding that need in him to drown out his sorrows. Our Christmas' became a decorated tree with little or nothing under them. Every year, I would cry myself to sleep and mourn the loss of my mother who had always known how to make holidays so special. By the time I had reached fourteen, it became too much. I planned ahead and saved every dollar I had, usually it wasn't much, maybe twenty or thirty total. Then, just a couple days before Christmas, I would go to whatever store was within walking distance to purchase little gifts for my brother and father. I wrapped these meager offerings up and placed them under the tree with the order they not be opened until the appropriate time.

Once Christmas eve had arrived, I would drag my brother to the living room and awaken my father from his drunken stupor. Under my supervising eye, they would open those gifts and each might give a smile. It wasn't much, but somehow I had to make the holiday better for them. They had both fallen to depression, drinking, and other things by this time and I was the only one hanging on. In some way, I was trying to give them a bit of happiness. Then, after the wrapping was cleaned up, my father passed out again, and my brother back in his room, I would go off alone to cry. I had done what I could. All the holidays until I left home seemed to pass this way with only one or two minor exceptions.

That first Christmas when I was eighteen years old was spent in Army barracks in North Carolina. I had just arrived at my unit two months before and only the soldiers who had been in the unit longer were given leave to go home. Perhaps not more than a dozen or so of us were left and I didn't know the others. I sat in my barracks room with its ugly cinder-block walls, once again depressed and even more alone than ever before. Then someone started pounding on all the doors, ordering us out into the hallway. We stumbled out, it was perhaps around 7pm so most hadn't gone to sleep, yet it was dark outside already. They told us all to go to the barracks entrance steps. I didn't want to and argued against it, but they told me it wasn't an option. To my surprise, upon reaching the entrance, a gathering of families were outside singing Christmas carols for us. It was a very cold night, yet they braved it to give us a little cheer. We even received cookies as a small gift. The children smiled so happily, knowing us soldiers needed that extra lift for the holiday. For ten minutes they stood there, just singing in chorus, in the cold, before moving on to the next building. It touched my heart to see people who selflessly came out on their holiday evening to show that they remembered us. The soldiers who sat alone in the dreary old barracks. Maybe they will never know how grateful I was for that kindness, but I hope they did.

So you are probably wondering why I related my story to you. Well, if it touched you at all, then this book will as well. It is about depression, Christmas miracles, and people giving out of the goodness of their hearts. I couldn't read this all in one sitting. It brought out my own memories and caused tears to pour forth from my eyes. I had to walk away from it a couple of times, but always felt compelled to come back and read more. It touched me deeply and I'm glad I read it. For this reason, I'm giving it five stars. Any author that can write a story that pulls so deeply at my heart is truly talented. You will not be sorry for having read this story. It is truly a beautiful tale.

Tim has written a wonderful book, more about life than Christmas, which was an inspiration to me. His characters are alive and you feel as if you know them. You hurt when they hurt, love when they love, and feel what they feel. His descriptions put you right there and I wanted to help!! So much of life packed into this story, and I was wishing for more at the end!

A must read for everyone; read it to your children! I will be watching for this author's works!!

When I read this book I was taken on a journey that moved me to the depths of my being. This book took me through many emotions, happiness, fear, hope, and anger; the strongest was hope. There were places when I cried, and others when I laughed. I really LOVED this book. Anyone who picks it up and reads it will find that they can't put it down until the final page is turned. I am highly recommending this book to everyone I know. Pick it up and you will find the hope that you thought was lost.

Just from the title of my review you start to understand the power of this story. As someone who has lost a loved one to suicide, I can only say EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. We've all experienced down times in our lives and most of us have experienced loss. That's where this story begins--with terrible loss. But as Skip moves through the deepest stages of grief and begins his plan for suicide, I saw a reflection of my own life's challenges and felt myself changing as the story moved on. By the time Skip stood on the rail of a bridge above a steep ravine, I was literally begging him, screaming for him to stop.

Read this book. Before you turn the last page you will have traveled a lifetime...and tears of happiness will streak your cheeks.

The Santa Shop is a nice little story that leaves you feeling good after finishing it.

In this first person narrative, we get acquainted with Skip, a man who after the tragic loss of his wife and baby son ends up living on the streets of Albany. Filled with remorse and guilt about the death of his family, he decides that he can't go on living anymore. While working out how to take his own life, he meets another homeless man, who tells him of a special bridge that people use to say farewell to their earthly existence.
On hearing this Skip decides that jumping off the bridge is a good way to go and he sets out to find this bridge, in the hope of reaching it before Christmas Eve.

As we follow Skip on his journey, we get a realistic idea of what he is going through. His desire to die is well told and easy to sympathise with. The people he meets along the way are nicely described. Most of them he meets only once, but they are believable and real. Some of the characters that jump out are Father Johnston, a priest who lets Skip sleep in the chapel for a night, Barwood Stone, the homeless guy who tells him about the bridge and Jenny, owner of a corner store.

The Santa Shop is not a very long story - probably not more than 10.000 words. But it doesn't need to be longer. It is a well written story that has a good structure and keeps you wanting to read on. Ultimately you feel empathy for the main character Skip and although you don't want him to die, are willing to follow him on his journey to a better and happier life.
The conspiracy that engulfs Skip is not a transparent one. It is a good conspiracy anyway, which leaves you to think that the world really can be a better place if more conspiracies like this happened more often.

I recommend The Santa Shop to anyone who is in need of a feel good story. Especially one that can be read curled up on the couch on a cold winter afternoon.

The Santa Shop by Tim Greaton is a poignant and uplifting story about one man's journey from the depths of despair and despondency to the dawn of redemption and recovery. Skip Ralstat lost his family in a fire. He blames himself for not being there to save them, and his guilt leads him to plan his own suicide by jumping from a bridge called Christmas Leap. Along the way his plot gets hijacked by the "Santa Conspiracy".

Well written and edited, Mr. Greaton has a wonderful talent for making his characters real, the dialog believable, and the locations familiar. You feel his pain and grief, you stand on the bridge with him, and you experience his awakening and hope. A beautiful story.

I've just finished reading "The Santa Shop" & yes, it was a great read! I must admit that I was initially skeptical - suicide is such a delicate issue; but hope & optimism are skillfully woven to overcome despair. It's the kind of book that sucks you in, right from the very beginning, & just never lets you go - with the writing, and the substance of the story, getting better & better as the reader accompanies Skip on his arduous journey.

Skip's odyssey begins from the depths of emotional grief & physical depravity. His wife & child are dead & he believes that he is to blame. Having no other family left, he takes to the streets & lives among the homeless, guilt-ridden & despondent, & eventually comes to the conclusion that suicide is the only thing of which he is worthy.

As Skip begins to plan his own death, we become aware of a quiet "conspiracy", a conspiracy of good faith - of hope. It is this counterplot that leads Skip, and the reader, from the edge of disaster, to the realization, and affirmation, of belief in the goodness of life & our fellowman - it leads us to the wonder of "The Santa Shop".

I want to believe whole heartedly that Gray, Vermont and The Santa Shop exist. Real or not, they will forever be alive in my mind. The power of this book rests in the author's ability to walk us through the depths of despair, making us feel Skip's desperation and allowing us to truly understand why he believes suicide is the only way to atone for the death of his wife and son. This book is filled with loneliness, sadness and the utter loss of faith. And then something amazing happens. After we have emotionally joined Skip in his desperate search for an end to his pain, the author moves not just the character but also the reader to a better place. Yes, I know with all my heart that Skip's pain is real. And that what makes this journey so amazing. Our belief grants it impact and power. While the title might sound like a feel good story, The Santa Shop is more about hopelessness and recovery. I know I recovered. A very worthy read by a wonderful author.

Tim Greaton's The Santa Shop is one of a kind. It is a feel good story that is right for any age for many reasons. For younger folks it is a life lesson and for older folk it is a triumph that reminds each and every one of us to be grateful for what we have and life's lessons that never stop coming. I recommend this book for anybody who is looking for a fast read full of enrichment and enlightenment.