A reminiscence of a Christmas shared by a seven-year-old boy and a sixtyish childlike woman, with enormous love and friendship between them.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Box and the Noel Collection comes A Christmas Memory, a poignant, deeply felt novel about loss, grief, the healing power of forgiveness, and the true meaning of the holiday season. It’s 1967, and for young Richard it’s a time of heartbreak and turmoil. Over the span of a few months, his brother, Mark, is killed in Vietnam; his father loses his job and moves the family from California to his grandmother’s abandoned home in Utah; and his parents make the painful decision to separate. With uncertainty rattling every corner of his life, Richard does his best to remain strong—but when he’s run down by bullies at his new school, he meets Mr. Foster, an elderly neighbor who chases off the bullies and invites Richard in for a cup of cocoa. Richard becomes fast friends with the wise, solitary man who inspires Richard’s love for books and whose dog, Gollum, becomes his closest companion. As the holidays approach, the joy and light of Christmas seem unlikely to permeate the Evans home as things take a grim turn for the worse. And just when it seems like he has nothing left to lose, Richard is confronted by a startling revelation. But with Mr. Foster’s wisdom and kindness, he learns for the first time what truly matters about the spirit of the season: that forgiveness can heal even the deepest wounds, and love endures long after the pain of loss subsides. In A Christmas Memory, Richard Paul Evans (#1 New York Times bestselling author and the “King of Christmas fiction”) delves deep into his childhood memories to take readers back to an age when his world felt like it was falling apart, reminding us that even in the darkest of times, the light of hope can still shine.

Story from an author's childhood of lovingly making fruitcakes from scratch at Christmas-time with his elderly cousin, and has stood the test of time to become known as an American holiday classic.

"Truman Capote's short story A Christmas Memory has become a Christmas classic. Warmly lyrical, it is an autobiographical story which tells of the author's Christmas as a boy of seven with his special friend, an elderly distant cousin who, as he delicately puts it, is "still a child." Each Christmastide they bake a huge batch of fruit cakes to send to people who've struck their fancy, such as the missionary to Borneo and President Roosevelt. They gather windfall pecans for the cakes, they go to the General Store to buy the ingredients, and they make a terrifying trip to the local bootlegger's to buy the necessary whiskey. After the cakes are baked, wrapped and mailed, the Woman innocently shares the remaining whiskey with the little boy as they celebrate with increasingly inebriated tap dancing. This leads to a shattering confrontation when the Aunts, with whom they live, swoop in, leveling against the Woman charges of scandal, sin, ruination, craziness. This last hurts deeply, and the little boy consoles her after they are alone. They plan Christmas gifts for each other - kites - and they celebrate the ritual of Christmas morning and fly their kites in the meadow. As the kites rise in the distance and eventually merge into one, we sense anew their special love for one another as we feel the poignancy of this their last Christmas together."--Page iii.

The #1 New York Times bestselling King of Christmas Fiction is back this holiday season with another heartwarming and wintery tale of rediscovering faith and love. A coming-of-age holiday tale based on Richard Paul Evans's own childhood that shows us how hope and acceptance can be found in the most unexpected of places.

This beautifully written holiday memoir follows the tradition of The Christmas Box and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It's the story of the author's mother, whose romantic nature and love for Christmas left a lifelong impression on her son. Mother is a tiny woman--4'11''--except when life demands that she draw herself up to her "full height" of 11'4''. Christmas is one of those times. Father is opposed to celebrating Christmas, and every year the couple fights about it. And every year Jerry and the other kids eavesdrop nervously until their mother ensures that Christmas wins out. When things take a turn for the worst, Mother and the boys find themselves struggling with poverty and depressed circumstances. Mother tries to make the best of Christmas at first, but when she loses the holiday spirit, her young sons decide to do something about it. In their attempt, they discover the true meaning of grace.

Reeling from the loss of his brother in Vietnam, Richard moves with his family from California to his grandmother's abandoned house in Utah, where he finds the holiday spirit with the help of an elderly neighbor and his dog.