It’s an absolute pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour and sharing my review for A Gift Called Hope by Eva Jordan: published for kindle by Bloodhound Books on 4th November (free via Kindle Unlimited, or just 99p to purchase), it’s also available in paperback. My thanks to Kelly at Love Books Tours for the tour invitation and support, and to the author for my advance reading copy (and for alerting me that this book was on its way – I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!).
Having met Eva at a few bookish events, I rather knew I’d enjoy her writing – and I think I’ve mentioned before that I fought for a signed copy of her first novel, 183 Times a Year, in an on-line charity auction, only to leave it unread on my shelves (sorry again, Eva!). But I started instead with her second book, All The Colours In Between, and really loved it – excellent characters, exceptional emotional authenticity, a family living their lives on the book’s pages (you’ll find my full review here). I know that life intervened a little to keep us waiting for Eva’s latest book – and that’s sadly what happened here around the time of the release of the third book in her trilogy, Time Will Tell, and the reason I can’t share a review. But I’m so delighted to see her back, with a new publisher, and was really intrigued by everything the told me about her festive story with a real difference.
Let’s take a closer look…
A heartfelt novel of a Christmas shadowed by loss and regret—and brightened by hope for renewal—from the author of Time Will Tell.
Six-year-old Jack is counting the days to Christmas. But his grandmother is just counting the days until it’s over. For Jill, the holiday comes with painful memories, and she wants only to escape the recent past and its tragedies.
She’s moved and started a new life running a food truck in Widmore Bay, a quaint seaside town, in order to flee her agonising history.
It’s only for little Jack’s sake that Jill tolerates the tree and decorations. She just wants to spend Christmas with the curtains drawn, reading a book and drinking coffee.
But this season, she may stumble onto a miracle that restores joy – and hope – in her heart…
There’s a stunning authenticity about this book’s emotional content – Christmas, for so many, isn’t something to look forward to, particularly when its memories are affected by the pain of loss. At first, we know none of the detail – only that Jill has moved to the Norfolk seaside town of Widmore Bay after her son’s death, an experience that tore her family apart, caring alone for her six-year-old grandson Jack Junior.
Against all the odds, their life there together is essentially a happy one – a cottage rented from Mary next door, who’s also a tremendously supportive friend, and Jill has fulfilled her dream of setting up a successful food truck selling vegetarian food to both locals and visitors. But as Christmas approaches, and with it a significant anniversary, the complexities of the family relationships raise their head again, the emotional impact of grief and loss becomes heightened along with the shame, guilt and anger, and we learn more about devastating sequence of events that overshadowed that earlier Christmas. There are a lot of difficult decisions to be made, relationships to repair, misunderstandings to clear up, truths to accept – and hopefully the possibility of moving on into a brighter future.
I’ve rarely read a more searing depiction of a mother’s grief – there’s a rawness to Jill’s emotion that really hurts, all the small reminders of everything that’s been lost. But there’s plenty about this book that’s particularly heartwarming too – her relationship with Mary is a joy, adding a real lightness, the interactions with customers at her food truck, and young Jack’s excitement as the festive season approaches. And then there’s the family – her daughter Molly (always the strong one – goodness, I so identified with her), her gentle and misunderstood husband Jack Senior, and the daughter-in-law who she finds it so impossible to forgive. And young Jack – so wonderfully drawn, and with a perceptiveness far beyond his years. Those family relationships are at the centre of the story, and exceptionally well handled – knowing everything that had gone before, I felt deeply for every one of them. And then there’s the handling of the circumstances of her son’s death, done particularly realistically and told with real sensitivity – at times, it was all a little close to home for me having lost a loved one under similar circumstances, but I always felt in an entirely safe pair of hands.
You might get the impression that this would be a heavy read, but it really isn’t – there’s a perfect balance of light and shade, and a glimmer of hope that shines ever more brightly as the story unfolds. There’s a lot of love in this book, a real emphasis on the importance of family, the moments of joy amid the darkness – I found the story really difficult to leave behind, the individuals very much still in my heart. It’s an extraordinary piece of writing, and a book I’d highly recommend to all – I loved it.
About the author
Eva Jordan was born in Kent but has lived most of her life in a small Cambridgeshire town. She describes herself as a lover of words, books, travel and chocolate, and is also partial to the odd glass or two of wine. Eva is both a mum and step mum to four adult children, all of whom have, at times, inspired her writing and her family based novels. Her career has been varied including working for the library service and at a women’s refuge. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Eva also writes a monthly column for a local magazine and says storytelling through the art of writing is her passion. 183 Times A Year was Eva’s debut novel, followed by All The Colours In Between, and Time Will Tell.
Huge thanks and love for your support of the tour. Kelly xoxo