Three Holidays and a Wedding

In December 2000, Ramadan, Hanukkah and Christmas all overlap. Two women are seated next to each other on a flight to Toronto. Anna is going to meet, and spend Christmas with, her boyfriend’s family. Growing up, she celebrated Hanukkah as well as Christmas, but her father died a few years ago and her Jewish stepmother has recently remarried. Maryam is going to her younger sister’s wedding. She has found it stressful to be preparing for a wedding, and now to be travelling with her family (her parents and grandfather, as well as her sister), during Ramadan.

During a terrifying storm, Anna and Maryam open up to each other and then, when their flight is diverted and they are snowed in in the picturesque and aptly-named Canadian town of show more Snow Falls, they become friends.

Their subsequent experiences in Snow Falls challenge and inspire both of them to reevaluate their lives -- from romantic prospects and career aspirations to family relationships. Putting it all into one sentence makes it sound sudden and dramatic, whereas it is much more gradual and thoughtful. Realistic. But also wrapped up in a winter holiday package which makes clear everyone is heading for a happy ending.

Towards the end of the novel, Maryam says:

“You don’t know what you’re missing until you are included in the story too”

The depiction of the December holiday season in movies often feels like it is intended to hit nostalgia buttons which my childhood never installed. (I’m a Southern Hemisphere dweller brought up by parents who didn’t believe in pretending about Santa. They also didn’t believe in owning a video player, so my exposure to the whole Christmas movie genre at a young and impressionable age was very limited.)

I can identify with Anna and Maryam’s experiences of feeling like Christmas movies don’t reflect their experiences of that season. I can understand their delight at finding places in Snow Falls where their cultures are accepted and represented. I didn’t always share that delight at some of the winter-holiday-aesthetic, because personally I find some of that cheesy rather than appealing, but that’s okay. I really enjoyed the rest of this story.

Anna had generously offered to execute the wedding theme Maryam had dreamed up, a cross between one of Dadu’s Bollywood wedding scenes and a Christmas gala. Either way, there would be a lot of gold tinsel and red velvet.
“I never realised how much overlap there is between South Asian fashion and Christmas decor,” Anna mused, as she ran her finger down the list Maram had handed her. “Both use a lot of candles, gold and silver, red and green”

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This was delightful. The first chapter put me off enough that I did skip forward to make sure that the rest of the book wouldn't make me as uncomfortable as that scene made me and reassured, I continued. I love the town of Snow Falls, I love Anna and Maryam becoming friends, getting to know them, and the people in their respective worlds. Our two couples all have to wrestle with finding their dreams, understanding themselves under the masks they have been wearing, and taking a new path to happiness. I love a good tale of transformation and this book is full of them.

Jalaluddin writes Maryam's chapters and Stapley writes Anna's, which melded the two writers together beautifully. They said they outlined the story then wrote their chapter show more concurrently so it has a wonderful flow. Hope we see another collaboration between these two. show less

Props to the authors for crafting a winter holiday romance novel that features Christmas, Hanukkah, and the end of Ramadan, which all coincided in the first year of the 21st century. The friendship between the two very different FMCs is more engaging than either of their romance arcs, which are straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie. Completely coincidentally, such a movie is being filmed in the snow globe - I mean small town - they are all stranded in, where every single inhabitant is cheerful, generous and a champion of diversity. Treacly holiday romances aren't really my jam, but at least this one was truly inclusive.

This was a cute seasonal “romance” that, much like the stranded travelers in the story, seemed to take forever to get anywhere. Granted, there was a lot going on.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the convergent celebrations and their traditions, though little was said about Christmas. And I appreciated seeing Anna and Maryam’s characters learn to stand up for themselves and take chances. I started this book thinking it was about Anna’s romance with Josh, but it was more a story about family and friends. Mr. Dadu was a hoot and my favorite character in the book.

The storyline became more interesting in the second half of the book, leading to a satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for show more this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. show less

Flying to Toronto has never been this much fun. Actually, it was no fun at all when bad weather and turbulence detoured the plane. Seat mates Maryam and Anna find themselves connecting in a way that was almost surprising. Anna is supposed to meet her boyfriend’s family, and Maryam is organizing her sister’s wedding. Only now, they are in a small, picturesque and very snowy town. And everyone’s plans are in disarray. It’s a lighted and at times, funny, look at what happens when circumstances demand that your careful plans are no more. Maybe something even better is in store for you. This lovely story will warm your heart even on the snowiest of days.