A Christmas Romance Novel by Elle Campbell
It’s almost Christmas, and Freya, Manager of The Sphere Theatre in Chicago, is going home to see her family after a few years away, as her niece asked her to. Coincidentally, The Good Twin, her twin brother Thad, texted her to tell her that Jeremy, a former friend and next door neighbour, is on his way back to their hometown too (he also lives in Chicago) but not for happy reasons – his stepfather Gary died so he’s actually due back home for the funeral. While this is not really welcome news as there is old bad blood between Freya and Jeremy, Freya is also on the verge of being totally broke, due to unexpected expenditures, so while home she will rent her apartment for a couple of weeks to tourists and make some cash.
The journey back to Northview is not the greatest: the conversation between Freya and Jeremy lingers, especially because they haven’t seen each other since graduating high school, 15 years before, despite living both in Chicago. They – Freya, Thad and Jeremy – were inseparable as kids, living next door from each other. The fact that Gary wasn’t the loving and caring stepfather the rest of the world believed him to be meant Jeremy spent a lot of time at the Nilsen’s, where he could find temporary relief and some sort of adoptive family giving him the love and support he needed. And when children pastimes moved from the bedrooms to the attic to make space for first kisses and teenage love angst, the relationship between Freya and Jeremy transformed too, going from friends, to romantic interest, to hate. All in the timespan of a few weeks. Their reciprocal loathing continues during their high school years. And even now, 15 years later, when they are both two successful and confident grown ups, being in the confined space of a car is a struggle.
Once home, though, there will be time and space to unpack some of the wrongs of the past and discover some of the skills they have acquired over the years – for example, Freya is able to take care of a lot of little details around the funeral that Jeremy didn’t even think about, while Jeremy asks no questions when Freya drags him to pick up her drunk niece from a friend’s house in the middle of the night – and they are finally in the right mindset to talk instead of bickering. The results will be stunning.
The story Campbell presents to us is not just ‘nice’, it is actually very good. While it is fairly clear how it will end, given this is a romance novel, the narrative is great and proceeds flawlessly; the alternation of point of view (the traditional A-B-A-B is not fully respected, but it’s quite close) makes the read dynamic and insightful and Campbell is very good at representing both characters’ distinctive voices.
While I personally do not read romance often, I have to say this is a very good book that ticks lots of boxes: humour, happy ending, romance, comedy, real-life challenges. It is well written, witty, insightful, relatable. Great if you are looking for escapism during the Christmas festivities.
‘War on Christmas’ is available for purchase at: https://amzn.to/41p3v7m
