5 stars for The Christmas Box (Christmas Box Collection Book 1) by Richard Paul Evans.
Christmas comes but once a year; what better time to read The Christmas Box but during this holiday season of giving and good cheer, of peace and joy.
The Christmas Box is a lovely story. It is sad yet heart-warming, short yet long enough a tale to touch my heart. I like the message the author tries to bring across on the true gift of Christmas and I feel that it depicts the true meaning of Christmas in a wonderfully special way.
Having finished the poignant story, it comes as no big surprise to me that what leaves the deepest impression is the significance of the emptiness of the christmas box; I too will rather it be empty than filled with written letters of love.
The first Christmas gift. Have you ever wondered what it is?
Read this book and it will bring you on an unforgettable journey of discovery. Perhaps some of us may already know the answer but have unconsciously or subconsciously pushed it to the deep recesses of our mind. What is needed is only a short meaningful story such as The Christmas Box to give us a gentle reminder of the true gift of Christmas.
I am aware that The Christmas Box is about the story of a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Little do I know that the young family in question is actually referring to author Evans and his family, until I read the part where the first-person narrator shares that he has married a design student named Keri and soon after, has a daughter whom they named Jenna. I know based on author Evans' acknowledgements in his books that Keri is his wife and one of his daughters is named Jenna. Putting two and two together, I realise that The Christmas Box is a story somewhat based on author Evans' life account.
***
From what I have read and understood, below are the answers - the why and the how - for the coming into existence of the Christmas Box story.
The Christmas Box is a story written by author Evans as a personal expression of love for his two daughters, Jenna and Allyson. Feeling that his two little girls cannot fully grasp the extent and depth of his love for them until they themselves experience the joy of raising their own children, by which time the relationship between father and daughters may have changed forever, Evans sets out to capture his love for them in words by transforming them into a heart-warming story through the telling of The Christmas Box. He hopes that someday in the future, his daughters will read his book and understand his fatherly love for them.
Having completed his touching story of a widow and the young family who comes to live with her, author Evans proceeds to bound twenty copies to give as Christmas presents to family members and friends. What happens next is totally unexpected yet astoundingly beautiful in itself. Because of the message of hope, miracles and healing inherent in the tale, those same twenty copies find themselves being shared and passed around from hands to hands, families to families, friends to friends.
What begins as a story for two young girls has now spread far and wide to reach people from all walks of life and even more amazingly, strike a chord with readers alike.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 15 Jan 2002
*** Favourite quote 1 ***
Whatever the truth about the origin of the box's magic, it is the emptiness of the box that I will treasure most, and the memory of the Christmas season when the Christmas Box found me.
*** Favourite quote 2 ***
The human life cycle no less than evolves around the box; from the open-topped box called a bassinet, to the pine box we call a coffin, the box is our past and, just as assuredly, our future.
*** Favourite quote 3 ***
They say that time heals all wounds. But even as wounds heal they leave scars, token reminders of the pain.
*** Favourite quote 4 ***
For though it appears empty, to me it contains all that Christmas is made of, the root of all wonder in a child's eyes, and the source of the magic of Christmases for centuries to come.
~ The Christmas Box
Richard Paul Evans
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"Whatever the reason, I find that with each passing Christmas the story of the christmas box is told less and needed more. So I record it now for all future generations to accept or dismiss, as seems them good. As for me, I believe. And it is, after all, my story."
So begins "The Christmas Box", the touching story of a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Together they discover the first gift of Christmas and learn what Christmas is really all about. "The Christmas Box" is a Christmas story unlike any other.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
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