Christmas Bells: A Novel
I heard the bells on Christmas Day / Their old familiar carols play / And wild and sweet / The words repeat / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
In 1860, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family celebrated Christmas at Craigie House, their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The publication of Longfellow’s classic Revolutionary War poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” was less than a month hence, and the country’s grave political unrest weighed heavily on his mind. Yet with his beloved wife, Fanny, and their five adored children at his side, the delights of the season prevailed.
In present-day Boston, a dedicated teacher in the Watertown public school system is stunned by somber holiday tidings. Sophia’s music program has been sacrificed to budget cuts, and she worries not only about her impending unemployment but also about the consequences to her underprivileged students. At the church where she volunteers as music director, Sophia tries to forget her cares as she leads the children’s choir in rehearsal for a Christmas Eve concert. Inspired to honor a local artist, Sophia has chosen a carol set to a poem by Longfellow, moved by the glorious words he penned one Christmas Day long ago, even as he suffered great loss.
Christmas Bells chronicles the events of 1863, when the peace and contentment of Longfellow’s family circle was suddenly, tragically broken, cutting even deeper than the privations of wartime. Through the pain of profound loss and hardship, Longfellow’s patriotism never failed, nor did the power of his language. “Christmas Bells,” the poem he wrote that holiday, lives on, spoken as verse and sung as a hymn.
Jennifer Chiaverini’s resonant and heartfelt novel for the season reminds us why we must continue to hear glad tidings, even as we are tested by strife. Reading Christmas Bells evokes the resplendent joy of a chorus of voices raised in reverent song.
Reviews (197)
I loved it. I am a fan of historical fiction ...
This was my first book by Jennifer Chiaverini and it will not be my last. I loved it. I am a fan of historical fiction and this went back and forth between current day and 1860's Boston. It was the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family living in Boston during the Civil War and the story of several people in current day Boston, all intersecting in the same locations and landmarks. Very well written and I will tell you something that I am starting to really appreciate about authors like Ms. Chiaverini, there was no swearing and foul language in this book. She was able to tell two parallel stories in a well written and captivating style without that. I for one was very happy about that. So much so that I just ordered the Spy Mistress.
A surprise
I was not expecting such a lovely, well-written tale about several people's lives that intersect on Christmas Eve, and how that tale is interwoven with events that occurred during the Civil War. The author's command of history is impressive, and her prose is lovely. Highly recommended.
A Long Way from Elm Creek
I thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts series, so this book was a major disappointment. First of all, it is very somber and is not the type of uplifting Christmas novel I prefer during the holidays. The plot is also very disjointed. The story focuses on a contemporary afternoon of children's choir practice for Christmas in a Boston Catholic church from a range of child and adult characters' perspectives, which is quite tedious and repetitious. These chapters are interspersed with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family's story during the 1860s and the US Civil War. The slender threads holding the two plots together are Longfellow's famous poem "Christmas Bells," sung by a boy in the choir, and the cruelties of war past and present. The Longfellow sections, which were the strongest although very sad with graphic details of injuries and deaths of soldiers in the Civil War, might have worked better as a stand alone novel. The best part of the book are tie-ins to Longfellow's famous poem "Christmas Bells," especially the last stanza.
I Love This Book.
As a novel that combines history and modern fiction, the author captured the subtleties of each character and how they interplay with each other. The author takes historical record of Longfellow’s life, and adds fiction to fill out verbal aspects as he eventually writes the famous poem: “Christmas Bells,” which most of us know as “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.” Also adding in a story line of another family in today’s time that is also being affected by war. The Civil War for Longfellow’s story and the modern family dealing with Afghanistan’s effect on their family. The emotions are very defined for both family groups as well as for 4 other modern day characters. This is the perfect Christmas story. It has history, historical places and battles, parental and family love, innocence, conflict within personal problems of each character, and the charm and hope of the Christmas season all neatly wrapped up in one book.
Awesome book
This book is about modern day and golden day. It is about the civil war time and the suffering that Henry W Longfellow's went thru during that time. Henry lost his loving wife from a tragic accident and he suffered many years because of it. The modern day is about young people falling in love, a father going off to war and many other things that happen in our current day. I enjoyed this book.
Not the author's best
I have read allot of the author's books, most of the elm creek quilt novels, the quilt pattern books, and a couple of her historical novels, so I was a bit disappointed in this one . I learned allot about the Longfellow family that I didn't know about so enjoyed those parts of the story the most. I can appreciated author's going back and forth in time but this was really several stories broken up and put into a novel. Not her best writing is why I gave it 3 stars-was glad I picked this book up at a sale price here otherwise I would have been even more disappointed.
Uplifting and Real
i think this Christian historical and fictional novel is well written.. It compares and contrasts the stories of two families: Henry W. Longfellow who lived during the Civil War and a modern family living during the Persian Gulf War, At times it is hard to make the transition between the two historical periods because of the intensity of the story . If someone is or has had a rough time spiritually this book is good medicine.
Wonderful and uplifting
I am listening on CD's for the 3rd time. I have gifted this book to friends and received grateful thanks. It is designed like Longfellow's "Tales of the Wayside Inn". One chapter covers a period in Longfellow's life; the next the story of one of the people present for a children's Christmas concert practice featuring the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" based on Longfellow's poem. The characters ring true and the reasons they are all present are interesting. The part of Longfellow's life covers the Civil War years so it is educational as well. A truly uplifting book.
This was a nice book to read around Christmastime but I just didn't ...
This was a nice book to read around Christmastime but I just didn't find the modern story and historical story to jive. I could have done without the whole church choir and their members' problems. The characters didn't grab my attention and with multiple points of view, no one story seemed compelling or even necessary. A book just about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would have been excellent as his story was one I had never heard and would have liked to learn more about. I wonder why Jennifer decided to switch back and forth from character to character and time period to time period. It took a lot away from Henry's story.
Two Interesting Stories
I liked the approach of telling stories from the present and from 1960 to 1864, the Civil War period, that are linked somewhat loosely by the Longfellow poem and later song "Christmas Bells." The history was more interesting to me, but the present time story with its various twists centered around a catholic church in Cambridge, MA and love story were fine. The writing is solid and the characters are fairly well drawn and kept my interest.It is a Christmas story and was right up my alley,.
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