Book Review: The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

I’m curious if any of my readers have come across this book before, and I’d say it’s likely many of you have. I was sent the 30th anniversary edition of The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans for review, and according the internet, has sold over 8 million copies since its release in 1993. It’s considered Christian Fiction which I don’t typically read, but this book has been so popular that I wanted to know what all the fuss was about! It also felt like the perfect book to get me in the holiday spirit as we enjoy the first week of December. It’s very different from the commercial holiday books we are used to, instead, it’s a thoughtful story that highlights what we should really be focused on at this time of year – the people we love.

Plot Summary

Only 113 pages with lots of white space, this is a very quick read, likely closer to the word count of a novella. We meet a young family; a father, mother, and their 3-year-old daughter, Jenna. They are living in a small apartment as the father builds up his formal wear business, and in search of a bigger space to call home. They respond to an advertisement in the paper looking for live-in housekeepers in exchange for cooking and cleaning for a local widow, Mary. They meet and immediately get along well, so they take the position and move their family in her large and stately home at the beginning of December. Mary is delighted to have company, and is a generous and kind employer. With no remaining family it’s clear she was looking for companionship, and when she’s not visiting with the family or playing with Jenna, she’s poring over one of her old bibles, which they discover is often tear-stained after she leaves the room. Mary’s behaviour becomes increasingly odd as she reminds the father figure to pay attention to what’s really important at Christmastime, and then asks him a bizarre question; What was the first gift of Christmas? The father finds a few strange ‘clues’ about Mary’s past life in their new home as Christmas draws closer, while the family realizes there are a few things they still don’t understand about Mary’s past.

My Thoughts

I realize the summary above makes this book sound more like a thriller than a cozy Christmas tale, but let me assure you, there are no ill intentions or unreliable narrators in this story. It becomes quickly obvious to the reader what Mary’s ‘secret’ is, but for some reason it takes quite awhile for the father to figure it out. Regardless, determining what Mary’s been leaving out of conversations isn’t the point of the story. Instead, readers are meant to reflect on what Mary’s experience can teach us – not just about the holiday season, but about how we choose to spend our time from day to day. And this isn’t a hard lesson for this already loving family (although I feared it might be, and worried of tragedy befalling them, so clearly I’ve been reading too many thrillers this past year), instead it’s a lesson that we are all aware of, but need a little reminding now and then.

This book was the first this author had ever written, and he only intended it as a gift to his family, but when others read it, they urged him to publish it professionally, and it became an instant bestseller and skyrocketed this man to authorial success. According to his website, him and his wife started a charity for abused and neglected children in their hometown when they were blessed with this newfound wealth from the sales of his books (a Christmas miracle if there ever was one!), and he’s since written many more Christmas-themed books, none of which I’ve read. So knowing this is his first book of many, I have no doubt his writing has improved, as have the team of editors he now has access to. Now here’s when I turn into a grinch and point out all the areas for improvement in this story! This is probably still his most famous novel, but likely not his strongest. The character development is either spotty or non-existent, and the plot feels rushed by the end. There is an uneven attention paid to details – things that are included occasionally seem irrelevant, while there remains huge gaps in the narrative. Admittedly, it’s a challenge to create a well-rounded story in such a short word count, but there are many authors who do an incredible job in their short story collections, so this book could have benefited from an overhaul in its structural choice. Bah humbug.

Despite my complaints above, I still recommend reading this book because the message and spirit of it are what’s important – and what’s universal. I can’t tell you WHAT the message is exactly because that would spoil it, but it’s a good one, and not often crystallized in literature for adults, other than in self-help books. If anyone has read his other books, let me know in the comments how you liked them!