Nora is used to summer visitors in Tennessee, who drift
away to Florida for winter. She gets on with her
gardening,
making soaps and handcrafts from flowers and herbs. One
summer visitor however, Shirley Haverty, stays on to
experience a white Christmas and claims that her old house
is haunted. NORA BONESTEEL'S CHRISTMAS PAST might be more
than the ladies have bargained for.
The Havertys are a mature couple who do traditional
decorating, but their Christmas tree was knocked over
during the night and ornaments smashed. All the doors and
windows were secure. When they went out shopping, the same
thing happened again. On a more serious note, the sheriff
and his deputy drive out to a hit and run suspect's home
in
the mountains. He is accused only of denting a car, but
that was a Mercedes belonging to a lady of importance, so
they have to look concerned. Snow is falling, and the
officers decide that they hate politics.
We learn how people lived here in earlier days, shooting
their own seasonal turkey during the Depression, canning
vegetables, storing apples and raising chickens and hogs.
Mountain folks are not soft. They carry on Scots
traditions
too, and locals hold that Nora Bonesteel has the Sight.
This is why her neighbour comes to her for help. The pink
and shiny artificial Christmas tree looks out of place
with
the chestnut timbers and log fire. Speaking of log fires,
the sheriff and deputy feel guilted into splitting and
hauling some timber for their elderly suspect's wife who
will be left alone for days when they take her husband to
jail. The forces of law and order sure are neighbourly in
Tennessee.
I enjoyed this gentle and descriptive read, which is not a
cosy mystery or a romance but just a Christmastime story
of
friendship and quiet humour, recalling traditions and
crafts that run the risk of being forgotten in today
rushing, connected world. Sharyn McCrumb has written a
timeless story which will help anyone relax and get into
the seasonal spirit. NORA BONESTEEL'S CHRISTMAS PAST is a
wry, chuckling fancy for readers far and wide.
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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