A Christmas House — Mary Miller

"A Christmas House" is the perfect book for anyone who has ever: built a house, worried about getting old, been single, been married, experienced sibling rivalry, delivered a baby, or spent the holidays with their relatives Born on Christmas Day, Abigail Addison was turning sixty this year. Even though she didn't look old, every now and then she felt old. So, when Fred her husband of thirty-five years invites the family down to spend Christmas together in the house he's been building on an island off the coast of Georgia, she decides to surprise him by selling their old home and embracing a life together at the beach. It's Abigail, however, who is surprised when she gets there to discover Fred's beautiful red brick house with white columns is somewhat lacking inside ... lacking paint, lacking plaster, lacking walls As each member of the family arrives they see a different house. Fred sees it for what it will be. Abigail sees it for the unfinished mess it is. Their three grown daughters, Margaret, Babs, and Lizbeth (eight months pregnant ) recognize it as an exact replica of the house they grew up in and reminisce about growing up in an unfinished home. But it's Abigail who sets everything in motion. Unable to tell anyone what she has done, she refuses to stay in the house for even one night and insists on finding a hotel room on Christmas Eve. As in the original Christmas story there are no rooms to be found. So it's up to the others at the height of the chaos, as Lizbeth goes into labor, to figure out a way to make a house with no walls ... a home. ADDITIONAL FEATURES: PROLOGUE, EPILOGUE, and NOTES FOR DISCUSSIONS - BOOK CLUB Q&A THOUGHTS FROM THE AUTHOR In 1989 my father finally decided to build his dream house on an island off the coast of Georgia. He had talked about building this house all our lives. As kids, my sisters and I, thought it'd be something he'd finish while we were still children. Mother thought it'd be something he'd finish while she was still young But by 1989 both my sisters and I were well out of the house and mother had turned sixty. Born on Christmas day, age never bothered her before, but that year, with her husband away and the children gone, she suddenly felt old and alone. When someone feels old and alone, especially at sixty, they are apt to do something drastic to change their life. This is that story, a mixture of truth and fiction tempered with love and understanding and a healthy dose of humor because, after all, the names have been changed to protect the guilty Merry Christmas Mary Miller