Fans of The Christmas Town Can Follow the Saga of Lauren & Travis In The Christmas Table
Donna VanLiere's book, The Christmas Town, was adapted into a Hallmark movie starring Candace Cameron Bure in 2019. The movie shares next to nothing in common with the book, aside from the main character, a former foster child name Lauren, winding up in the close-knit community of Grandon where she meets and falls in love with a guy named Travis.
The Christmas Table picks up with Lauren and Travis less than a year into their marriage.
The Christmas Table is a book about hope, family, and faith.
The Christmas Table Toggles Between 1972 and 2012
It's 1972, and John Creighton wants to tackle more serious carpentry projects beyond making picture frames. He's determined to craft his wife, Joan, a new kitchen table by Thanksgiving, but his progress is slowed when they learn Joan has cancer.
John devotedly cares for Joan and their two young children, Gigi and Christopher. Even on her worst days, John can always make Joan laugh. As the cancer advances despite her treatments, Joan prepares to face the inevitable. Through multiple divine appointments, John rekindles the faith of his childhood and begins praying, believing for a miracle, and speaking positive. Joan is more of a realist, but she eventually is inspired and moved by her husband's unwavering belief that "today is the day" for things to turn around for good.
Not wanting her kids to remember her as being "sickly," Joan turns to all the handwritten recipes her mother had given her when she married John, and she learns to cook. She writes loving messages to her own daughter on recipe cards and creates a host of memories in the kitchen with her kids on the days she can muster enough strength to make meals with her family.
The table is a little late, but Joan finds John's gift on Christmas morning, and it becomes an instant family treasure.
It's 2012, and Lauren and Travis learn they are going to become first-time parents near Christmas.
Lauren is helping at Glory's Place, an after-school program for kids to support single and low-income families, and everyone there is like the family she never had. When Gloria and Miriam hear the news, they set out to help Lauren and Travis to spruce up their very small, modest, and undecorated home.
Larry, the local furniture maker, matches Lauren with a table she can afford. It's an old piece he found at a garage sale and refurnished. Lauren discovers a drawer in the table, and it is filled with handwritten recipes.
Since Lauren has never learned to cook, she is captivated by all the loving notes on the recipe cards. Lauren's mother had been horrible (in the book, not the movie), so she develops an odd feeling of connection to the family who had taken such painstaking effort to compile all these recipes. Lauren teaches herself to cook by following the recipes, but she suspects the owner of the recipe cards would desperately want them returned.
Lauren sets out to solve the mystery and is pleased by what she finds.
Gloria & Miriam Are Hilarious
Donna VanLiere has created two older ladies in Grandon, both whom run Glory's Place, who will make you laugh out loud at their antics. Gloria and Miriam are best friends, but you'd never know it. They compete with each other and lob stinging wisecracks at one another continuously. Neither is as harsh and unkind as they appear. In fact, under their crusty demeanors, they both have hearts of gold.
My Favorite Sentence In The Book
There are many meaningful conversations and insights that take place between the pages of this book, but based on your present circumstances or stage of life, different ones will pop out at you.
My favorite quote from the book was in reference to looking back at the season of life when you were raising your children:
"The days were long, but the years were short."
If your kids are teens or adults, this insight is particularly meaningful. Infants, toddlers, and young children take a tremendous amount of time to raise. You are busy changing diapers, getting up with them in the night, teaching them, disciplining them--young moms wonder if they will have time for themselves ever again. Yet, in the blink of an eye, kids are grown--babies one day and graduating the next. It's bittersweet.
Young moms out there--while it's hard to savor messy diapers, temper tantrums, short attention spans, potty training, and fighting among siblings, know the season passes very quickly. If you catch yourself thinking, "I can't wait until they are big enough to do this themselves," or "I'll be glad when they're in school so I can get a break," try to remember these are the best years of your life. The days are long, but the years truly are short.
Is The Christmas Table Worth Reading?
When I read a book, I prefer the author use past tense, which most do, but VanLiere uses present tense in this one. I find it distracting, but she does it correctly.
Four obvious typos in the book caught my eye which somehow managed to escape editors, so that looked a little sloppy.
Both of those issues are minor. The book is sweet.
This small town story is worthy of a place on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries schedule, and Hallmark fans who love sequels would be delighted to see how life progresses with Lauren and Travis.
The most inspiring aspect of this book is the message of the power of God, through faith, making the seemingly impossible, possible. This is what gives people hope. Some might argue that the ending is tied up just a little too perfectly, but the right people crossing the right path at the right time is something God does best! VanLiere manages to use a work of fiction to effectively share the gospel.
As someone who loves to cook, I thought a poignant part of the story involved the sharing of family-treasured recipes. Food and a kitchen tables always bring people together.
At the end of the book, VanLiere credits her mother for passing on the love of a good recipe and for teaching her how to cook, so The Christmas Table may have some autobiographical components to it. In fact, VanLiere shares several of the recipes that are referenced in the book. I plan to try a few of them, like Peanut Butter Fudge and Ricotta Pumpkin Pancakes (which VanLiere quips will feed five hungry eaters or six polite ones).
Donna VanLiere is a speaker and teacher in addition to being a writer.
Which Donna VanLiere Books Became Movies?
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