Twas the Night Before: A Christmas Allegory [Hardcover]

Jerry B. Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Noella, a journalism professor at Northwestern University, and Tom, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, are engaged to be married. After several failed relationships for each, they believe they have finally found true love. As Christmas approaches, though, they come up against a basic difference in their temperaments: she always sees the glass as half full and he sees it as half empty--or maybe even cracked beyond repair. When she insists that a medallion she received as a child is actually from Santa Claus, he bah-humbugs it. Sadly, they realize they are just too dissimilar to get married. Devastated by the breakup, Tom decides he won't do his usual cynical Christmas story for the paper but instead will fly to Germany to write about the Father Christmas tradition. What he discovers changes his life . . . and restores his faith in much more than Santa. 'Twas the Night Before is a spellbinding love story that will join O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi," Dickens's A Christmas Carol, and the film It's a Wonderful Life as a Christmas classic that will bring romance, good cheer, and hope to the season.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When it comes to Christmas, there are two categories of people in the world: believers and non-believers. Although non-believers will probably never get around to reading this love story by Jerry Jenkins (bestselling co-author of Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days), believers will certainly relish this mystical story that delivers a doubting Thomas to the home of Kriss Kringle. Jenkins's usual use of high adventure and unpredictable love is at play in this story about Tom Douten, a gritty Chicago journalist, who isn't afraid to investigate the truth about life in the inner city, and his new lover, Noella, an optimistic writer who believes in Santa. When Jenkins flies to the Black Forest to investigate the "truth" about Santa and dispel Noella's belief, his plane crashes, killing the pilot and his fellow passenger. Jenkins keeps the story fast-moving in his terse, straightforward style. Nonetheless, he manages to plot an intricate enough course, so that the final revelations are surprising, and as satisfying as plum pudding at the end of a Christmas feast. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

A renewed belief in Santa Claus seals the love between two journalists whose engagement is threatened by lack of faith, in Jenkins's (Nicolae) preposterous holiday romance set in snowy Chicago. Tom Douten and Noella Wright are an unlikely oil-and-water match but very much in love. As "Douten Thomas," Tom is the Tribune's locally heralded, cynical columnist and champion of the working class; Noella is a well-bred ivory tower professor of journalism who still believes in Santa Claus. The provenance of a cherished platinum heart pendant bearing the wrong birth date that Noella received as a child and wears every December threatens to estrange the happy couple. Jenkins bides time by detailing the characters' compatibility ("It had not been love at first sight despite Noella's delicate beauty") and then rushes to resolve the belatedly established conflict in a most implausible scenario involving a plane crash in Germany in which Tom chances upon the real Kris Kringle. The narrative is both too cloying and too superficial to inspire belief. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Printing edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670881767
• ISBN-13: 978-0670881765
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,824,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Jerry B. Jenkins, former vice president for publishing and currently writer-at-large for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, is the author of more than 160 books, including the 63,000,000-selling Left Behind series.

Also the former editor of Moody Magazine, Dr. Jenkins's writing has appeared in Time, Reader's Digest, Parade, Guideposts, and dozens of Christian periodicals. Jerry and Dr. Tim LaHaye were profiled in a May 24, 2004 cover story in Newsweek magazine entitled "The New Prophets of Revelation."

Jerry's non-fiction books include as-told-to biographies with Hank Aaron, Orel Hershiser, Walter Payton, Nolan Ryan, and many others.

Jenkins also assisted Dr. Billy Graham with his memoirs, Just As I Am, also a New York Times bestseller.

Jerry owns Jenkins Entertainment, a filmmaking company in Los Angeles, and also the Christian Writers Guild, which aims to train tomorrow's professional Christian writers and has nearly 2,000 members worldwide.

www.JerryJenkins.com
www.Jenkins-Entertainment.com
www.ChristianWritersGuild.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get swept up in the Christmas Magic, September 11, 2001

By 

Leona (Binghamton, New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twas the Night Before: A Love Story (Paperback)

Okay, when Christmas comes around, most people think of the mob scene that is Christmas shopping. However, in this easy, fun, and over-much-too-soon read, the spirit and the miracle of Christmas can be lived. The story of Noella and Tom is destined to become a classic, even though I don't believe that it's well-know as of yet. Hopefully that will change. Anyway, this is truly a great read and I hope that you will enjoy it too.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A love story to renew your belief in Santa!, December 12, 1999

By 

Susan (Kirkland, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twas the Night Before: A Love Story (Paperback)

This is a short book, but one of the most charming and magical Christmas books I've read in many a year! Taking place in Chicago, it's about two people who have quite differing views on the reality of Santa Claus, and how those beliefs pulls them apart and ultimately brings them back together again. I think it ranks right up there with O'Henry, and "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". An easy read that is over much too quickly and will become a book that's read every Christmas season. I fell in love with it! (And have sent copies as gifts to people ---- it's that good!)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, November 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Twas the Night Before: A Christmas Allegory (Hardcover)

Northwestern University journalist professor Noella Wright invites highly regarded newspaper reporter Tom Douton to provide a lecture to her students. Cynical Tom, who champions the working class, refuses to step into the fantasy world of academia until Noella erodes away his reluctance.

When they actually meet, he begins to fall in love with the rosy-colored professor, who is his diametrical opposite in outlook. Their relationship grows until Noella begins to wear a pendant that she insists was given to her as a child by Santa Claus. He refuses to be associated with an educated lunatic and ends their relationship. Needing an article for his part of the newspaper's annual Christmas edition, Tom flies to the Black Forest in Germany to learn more about the heritage of the holiday. His plane crashes and he is mysteriously rescued even as Noella is willing to suspend her beliefs in order for them to find happiness together.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE may not be quite THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, but fans of seasonal romances will devour this interesting (though far-fetched) tale. The lead protagonists may be total opposites in perspective, but share much in common, which is why their relationship seems plausible. The story line is clearly and purposely a grand canyon of a stretch. However, fans of Yuletide romance who suspend reality for a few hours will simply enjoy Jerry B. Jenkins' fantasy love story that leaves no one left behind when it comes to feeling good.

Harriet Klausner