25 DAYS ‘TIL CHRISTMAS – Poppy Alexander
William Morrow
ISBN: 978-0-06-295879-2
October 2019
Contemporary Fiction 

Bristol, England

This wonderful and unique (at least to me) novel was first published in England where it is set. It tells the story of Kate, a present-day widow left behind by the death of her soldier husband a few years ago. She has a six-year-old son named Jack to raise and whom she dearly loves . . . and must feed and house on her own. She barely gets by working at a store and renting a small apartment above a launderette. Christmas is coming, and she must don an elf costume and work out in the cold selling Christmas trees.

At the same time and in his own paragraph, we meet Daniel, a man who has lost his whole family. His most recent lost was Zoe for whom he would purchase trees from the “Christmas Tree Girl”. He feels a strange attraction to Kate, whose name he doesn't know.

From then on, each day leading up to the holiday has its own chapter and a little bit more about Kate and Daniel. 

25 DAYS ‘TIL CHRISTMAS grabbed me right away, and its 342 pages let me go only to eat and to sleep that night.

Jane Bowers