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Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past: A Ballad Novella
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When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing for a neighbor, it begins to look like they may all spend Christmas away from home. In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most loved characters who know there is more to this world than the eye can see, especially at Christmastime.
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Commencer à lireInformations sur le livre
Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past: A Ballad Novella
Description
When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing for a neighbor, it begins to look like they may all spend Christmas away from home. In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most loved characters who know there is more to this world than the eye can see, especially at Christmastime.
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Avis
Not quite up to the standard of the rest of McCrumb's sophisticated and well-plotted Ballad series, this short, sweet Christmas story is kind of the equivalent of the Christmas episode of an ordinarily heavy television drama. Pleasant, nostalgic, and full of Appalachian holiday details, it's brief and light enough to fit between your stressful holiday errands.
Rating: 3A great story to read each year. Vintage Sharyn McCrumb
Rating: 4Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad series features wonderful characters basking in the sunlight of the Tennessee mountains. This latest book has many of the characters, but the story ends too quickly to enhance the story. This is a very short Christmas novella about the power of ghosts and angels. Who would think that a sheriff and his deputy would be considered Christmas angels by a suffering elderly couple? Who could imagine that a ghost from the early 1940's could lead a retired couple from Florida to experience a mountain Christmas? McCrumb alternates between the two scenes a little too briskly, as if racing to the finish line. The story ends just as abruptly.
Rating: 2Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past does just what a Christmas story should do. It leaves you with a smile on your lips and warmth in your heart. Two separate stories are alternately told , each delightful in its own way. The only quibble I have is that I kept expecting some link between the separate stories. A great quick read with a cup of tea before the fireplace.
Rating: 5A slight but enjoyable Christmas story, related to McCrumb's Ballad mystery series although not itself a mystery but rather a slice of Appalachian life.Parallel storylines follow Nora Bonesteel helping her snowbird neighbor with a mysteriously fallen Christmas tree and Sheriff Arrowood and his deputy heading out to arrest a hit-and-run driver on Christmas Eve. The latter plot is the more surprising, the former the more satisfying.
Rating: 3Reading this book was like reading two short stories at once, and although they flipped back and forth, it was a quick easy read.The old Honeycutt place has been sold and a summer resident has been fixing it up. When strange things begin to happen, they contact Nora, as she has a gift of Sight. Had a few chuckles when it was told what was happening, a palm tree? Really? The story did have interesting insight into past Christmas at the mansion, and brought us up to the present.The second story I could almost guess what was happening, really funny, and the old man really got his monies worth. I loved it. Just one more thing and then I can go, ok, how about chopping a months worth of wood? Or, half a dozen other chores that seem to be waiting for them, the real spirit of Christmas, yes!I think I was expecting more, but the stories satisfied me, and felt maybe the characters got what was expected and maybe more.I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Abingdon Press, and I was not required to give a positive review
Rating: 3A Christmas book? Already Luanne? I know, I know, but can I be the first to tell you that there are only eighty days until Christmas! One of my favourite things to do in the days leading up to the twenty fifth is to read holiday tales. So, really, I'm just giving you lots of advance notice.....and a chance to own Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past! I've found that many novelists publish a holiday story featuring their recurring characters or settings. And that's true with Sharyn McCrumb's first Christmas book. McCrumb also writes what she knows..... ...."My books are like Appalachian quilts," says Sharyn McCrumb. "I take brightly colored scraps of legends, ballads, fragments of rural life, and local tragedy, and I piece them together into a complex whole that tells not only a story, but also a deeper truth about the culture of the mountain South." Nora Bonesteel has lived her whole life in her family home in the mountains. She has fond memories of years and Christmases gone by. When her newish neighbour comes to call, prattling on about their house being haunted, Nora has an idea what might be going on.... McCrumb also includes a parallel storyline featuring Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne, who are reluctant to carry out an arrest warrant on Christmas Eve. When they arrive at the house, they too are in for a bit of a surprise.... McCrumb's description of the settings evokes vivid pictures of time and place. But it is Nora's memories that stayed with me - Christmases gone by that were celebrated in a simpler fashion, without the commercial frenzy. It was about the people, not 'things'. McCrumb's style of writing is comfortable, almost folksy, leaving the reader feel like they're part of the story. This was an excellent start to this year's holiday tales!
Rating: 3Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most beloved characters from her Ballad novels in Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past, and she does so in fine style. McCrumb's writing effortlessly imparts her knowledge of the heritage, customs, and language of the people who live in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. In fact she made me smile early on simply by using a phrase that I grew up with and haven't heard since I moved away: "as independent as a hog on ice." Many things can bring back memories of home. Language is one of them.Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne's storyline is a bit of very enjoyable comic relief. Never underestimate the wiliness of an old man. On the other hand, Nora's task is a bit more serious, and it involves her knowledge that there is more to this world than the eye can see. Everything was going well at the old Honeycutt place. Shirley Haverty and her husband immediately started fixing up the neglected house that they intended to use as a summer home. It was only when they decided to stay for the winter and celebrate Christmas that life began to get truly interesting, and Nora's knowledge of the Christmas of 1943 will prove to be the key in bringing harmony back to the Haverty's house.If you're already a fan of McCrumb's Ballad series, I know I'm singing to the choir. If you have yet to read one of those Ballad novels (the first is If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O), I urge you to read this novella. It's the perfect introduction to a marvelous series of books, and a wonderful little story in its own right.
Rating: 5This story is about sheriff Spencer Arrowood and deputy Joe LeDonne and Nora Bonesteel. Will happen with them. The sheriff and deputy go on a call to bring in someone. They go about as if they now the person. Though the person they have come to get put them though some things. To find out what they did and help they do. They all look like they may on spend Christmas away from home.
Nora get a visit from a couple that bought the old Honeycutt's house. Things start to happen once this couple decides to come up and spend Christmas at the house. Nora and many other things start to happen with memories and spirits are found in the walls. You need to read to find out what the story is behind the old memories.
Rating: 4Nora get a visit from a couple that bought the old Honeycutt's house. Things start to happen once this couple decides to come up and spend Christmas at the house. Nora and many other things start to happen with memories and spirits are found in the walls. You need to read to find out what the story is behind the old memories.
I received this book as an early review copy, but I finally just got to it. I know it's out of season as this is well and truly a Christmas story. Actually, it's two Christmas stories about two very different situations. If anyone is familiar with Ms. McCrumb's Appalachia series, this little book tells two very different stories. One is about Sheriff Spencer Arrowwoord and his taciturn deputy Joe Le Donne. The other is about the ancient seer that lives in the neighbourhood by the name of Nora Bonesteel. Norah and Spencer are acquainted, but they do not meet each other in this little book. Nora is asked by some new neighbours to help them with what they think is a haunting . Someone is upsetting their Christmas tree and scattering the ornaments. This little task causes Nora to go back in her memory to Christmases when she was a child during the Second World War. Once she does that in her mind, she has no trouble identifying the culprit and providing her neighbours with a solution. Spencer and Joe are delivering a warrant for the arrest of an alleged hit-and-run accident. It's Christmas Eve and they're both in a hurry to get this last task done before heading off for their own Christmas Eve plans. They get far more than what they bargained for when the reach the remote home of two elderly people. All ends up fine in the end, and Spencer and Joe receive a lesson in helping out people in need. The little stories are magical and the lessons portrayed wonderful. I love Sharyn McCrumb's Appalachian series and this little book is like a gift for her legions of fans.
Rating: 4When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. I am a huge fan of Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad Novels, and I dearly love Appalachian fiction. Although this is a bit different from McCrumb's other novels, it is still a pretty good book. I LOVE that she goes into detail about how the original Appalachian people celebrated Christmas. (One thing I love about Sharyn McCrumb is that she values and celebrates the Appalachian culture.)I was expecting a great deal of suspense- McCrumb's other works keep you on the edge of your seat. This one was more easy going. It did point out the difference in the natives of Appalachia and the summer people. Their lack of appreciation and understanding of the native culture is well illustrated here. Mostly this book meanders slowly through two separate plots- a summer family has renovated a local mansion and feels that it is haunted. They seek Nora's psychic abilities to remedy the situation. Meanwhile, Sheriff Spencer Arrowwood and Deputy Joe LeDonne must serve a warrant on Christmas Eve in an area that is not known for its appreciation of the legal system.Fans of McCrumb will not find the usual suspense, but they will find familiar characters in a light-hearted novella. Read this book if...*You love Sharyn McCrumb's other works*You love southern fiction*You love Appalachian fiction*You love Christmas stories
Rating: 3Too much historical lecture embedded in a very short pair of stories.
Rating: 3Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past is the first work that I have read by McCrumb, and I found that I really enjoyed it. Both stories in novella captured the holiday spirit making for a heartwarming tale. I enjoyed how Nora helped her new neighbors put to rest a ghost from her past at the same time the Sheriff and his Deputy inadvertently helped an elderly couple in the process of doing their job. The characters were well developed considering the length and purpose of the storylines, and I found myself caught up in both tales. I especially enjoyed the character of Nora. McCrumb did a great job at creating a wonderful holiday tale, and I am definitely looking forward to checking out more books by this author. Overall Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past proved to be a great holiday read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming holiday tale. Received a copy of Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4'Tis the season for new Christmas tales to start appearing on bookstore shelves and I admit I’m a sucker for a good Christmas story. This year’s first is the new novella, Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past by author Sharyn McCrumb. Nora Bonesteel, whose family has lived in the Appalachians since the 1700s has the Sight. Because of this, her new neighbours have asked her to help them with a rather disconcerting little problem that has arisen in their house with their Christmas decorating and which Nora suspects is rooted in the past.At the same time, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and his deputy Joe LeDoone have set out across the mountain to arrest JD Shull who accidentally hit a senator’s car and then fled the scene. Despite it being Christmas Eve and with a snowstorm on the way, the senator had demanded the elderly man’s immediate arrest. But, when they arrive at Shull’s house, they find themselves confronted with more than they bargained for including the Christmas Spirit.Many of the characters in this delightful novella will be familiar to fans of McCrumb from many of her other Ballads novels. However, you don’t have to have read any to appreciate Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past. McCrumb has a deft and gentle hand with descriptions and the story evokes strong feelings of both time and place. The two separate stories are intertwined and work well together to evoke the spirit both of Christmas and the Appalachians. There is just a touch of the paranormal as well as a sense of the need to recapture the less commercial side of Christmas in the first tale giving it a kind of Dickensian feel while the second has a more O Henry kind of feel eliciting a sense of surprise and the joy that can come from the generosity of spirit of the season. This is a sweet tale meant to entertain while speaking to the real meaning of Christmas and is a fine read to get you ready for the season.
Rating: 4NORA BONESTEEL’S CHRISTMAS PAST by Sharyn McCrumbTwo separate Christmas stories that take place in McCrumb’s Appalachia are intertwined in this cozy novel. Although the stories never link they are both lyrical and atmospheric. McCrumb’s characters are fully developed even though the two stories are individually quite short – novella length. Both combine comic scenes with pathos. I enjoyed the jumps from story to story as the chapters alternate stories. Some may find this disconcerting.
Rating: 4