4 stars for The Noel Letters (Noel Collection book 4) by Richard Paul Evans.
June 2021. The year end is nowhere in sight, not for months to come. No festive mood. No Christmas spirit in the air. With half a year to go, it feels way too early to be reading a Christmas story. I actually have no intention of reading this book. At first. In fact, I will have preferred to follow the correct sequence of things and read Noel Street which is the third book in the Noel Collection first, before coming to this one. But, as fate will have it, this book finds its way to me when I ain't feeling the most optimistic and happy. So, I think to myself "Why not?" Well, I don't always have to leave author Evans' books to year end reading every time. And that is how I come about reading a holiday season story from my go-to author in the middle of the year.
The Noel Letters is a well-executed life-changing tale of hope, trust, forgiveness and a chance at love. Though there is pain and loss and regrets in the story, it is beautiful in its depth and message, for all too often, there is no gain without a loss.
As is author Evans' style, the story takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah. Even though I have never set foot in this city before, I feel as if I have lived in Salt Lake City for years, dating back to the time I started reading his books. This time, it is about homecoming and a fresh start, for the protagonist, a 31-year old Noel Book. And as usual, the story is set during the Christmas season. There is Christmas tree, Christmas decoration, Christmas music and enough snow for the workings of the imagination. The best part of it all, is a bookstore with a very classic feel. This wonderful combination of bookstore and Christmastime is enough to make me swoon with delight and fall in love with the stage setting.
Once again, this is not just a book about a story. It is also a book that shares other stories. In fact, this book is very much like an exciting book list. There is mention of Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and John Steinbeck's classic such as Cup of Gold, Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men and East of Eden. There is Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Harper Lee's legendary To Kill a Mockingbird and her sequel Go Set a Watchman, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, and many many more. Some I have read, others already on my reading list, and I have plans to check out the rest. It is always good to have more books to add to my reading list.
There are unique things to like about The Noel Letters. Besides the lovely quotes and meaningful passages, there is a section in the story which I find myself smiling much when I read it. A woman wants to return the book she has purchased earlier from the bookstore. The reason for the return according to her, is that the book is ruined because the pages are cut unevenly. The truth is, it is not a damaged book but a deliberate act by the publisher to give the book a deckled edge. It is in fact a decorative feature meant to give the book the appearance of an old-fashioned handcrafted look. I like the explanation given. Because that is exactly how the pages of most of author Evans' books are trimmed. He is speaking for himself and his books, for both the story and for real. And I do agree; it is antiquarian. It gives books an uniquely antique feel. The explanation also makes me more mindful of the feel of the pages and the trimmings, and I learn to appreciate the efforts that go into publishing a book.
Perhaps there really is a good reason for this book to have crossed my path. The writing and the characters in the book certainly warmed my heart. Who says you can feel the Christmas spirit, a time for kindness and joy, only at the end of the year?
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication date: 27 Oct 2020
*** Favourite Quote 1 ***
Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things.
— Kurt Vonnegut
*** Favourite Quote 2 ***
When it rains it pours.
*** Favourite Quote 3 ***
When one door closes, another opens.
*** Favourite Quote 4 ***
The greatest story you will ever write in your life is your own, not with ink but with your daily actions and choices.
*** Favourite 5 ***
It's been written that "our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter". As you pursue your dreams, remember that when you turn the final page of life, what will matter most to you is only what can be held inside. Life's book is written on the heart.
*** Favourite Quote 6 ***
Many mistake knowledge for wisdom. They are not the same thing. A cupboard full of ingredients is not a meal. It's how knowledge is applied to real life that counts as wisdom.
Do not be over-arrogant in your knowledge. No one is always right, and everyone is sometimes wrong.
*** Favourite Quote 7 ***
Love is the single greatest choice you can make in your life. Make no mistake: Love is a choice. It is not something that happens to you nor a hole you fall into. It is not an accident.
Love is a choice, a decision, that is grown and cultivated, pruned at times and patiently cared for. If properly nourished, it will someday grow into something too big to uproot - something that will provide shade and sustenance, constantly climbing upward and spreading its shelter over others.
If you believe you must earn love, as many do, or require it of others, you do not understand its nature. Love earned ceases to be love. It is wage.
*** Favourite Quote 8 ***
Too many live their lives as if they'll live on this Earth forever, scheming and building sand empires that will fall at the next wave of time. Ultimately, the only empire worth building is one of the soul, as the heart alone exists outside of time and physics. We all arrived on Earth with a round-trip ticket. We are sojourners and star travelers, all of us - campers from the Great Beyond. While it behooves us to leave the campground better than we found it, we are fools to put down stakes or pour foundation on unclaimable ground.
*** Favourite Quote 9 ***
Life is a ladder. You can choose the direction to climb, but not the rungs. As you climb, you will slip at times. Do not be discouraged. Sometimes success is better measured in intention than inches.
~ The Noel Letters
Richard Paul Evans
@}--->>--->>-----
After nearly two decades, Noel Post, an editor for a major New York publishing house, returns to her childhood home in Salt Lake City to see her estranged, dying father. What she believed would be a brief visit turns into something more as she inherits the bookstore her father fought to keep alive.
Reeling from loneliness, a recent divorce, and unanticipated upheavals in her world, Noel begins receiving letters from an anonymous source, each one containing thoughts and lessons about her life and her future. She begins to reacquaint herself with the bookstore and the people she left behind, and in doing so, starts to unravel the reality of her painful childhood and the truth about her family.
As the holidays draw near, she receives a Christmastime revelation that changes not only how she sees the past but also how she views her future.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
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