I was sorry to miss the recent Zoom with Helena Greer. I was not quite finished with this, her first novel when it occurred but more importantly life was kind of imploding here. Season of Love was just the right book to be reading — a romance set during the holiday season in a cold snowy upstate New York. It’s sort of like one of those Hallmark movies but this time for lesbians. Unlike a Hallmark movie though it gets into some heavy areas regarding family trauma and alcoholism. Nonetheless, it was delightful fun to read, especially when the temps here are soaring north of 90 and my other reading was test results in MyChart. (Not to worry, results have been good so far but no answers yet.)
Miriam Blum is a social media sensation, an influencer with a thriving art business and masses of followers who call themselves Bloomers. She and her partner Tara have a pretty good life going in Charleston; Tara is a wealthy and successful attorney, and Miriam is about to open a brick and mortar store for her up-cycled art objects. Miriam likes to travel around the country looking for interesting antiques and junk to use, and she has lots of contacts who happen to be older ladies and gentlemen antiquers. Life is good when she gets the devastating news that her beloved great aunt Cass has died. Cassiopeia Carrigan was an eccentric bon vivant who defied family expectations by leaving the family’s Jewish bakery business to start her own Christmas tree farm and Christmas themed inn, Carrigan’s Christmasland. Miriam has fond memories of spending Jewish holidays at Carrigan’s with her cousin Hannah and family friend Levi, but she has avoided Carrigan’s completely for 10 years. She hasn’t seen the family she loves due to trauma she experienced; we readers know that this has something to do with her father but much of the story is teasing out what happened and how Miriam will address her own trauma.
Returning to Carrigan’s for shiva and the memorial services leads to several big surprises for Miriam, upending the life she had been building for herself. She and the people who love her and whom she left for a decade need a bit of time to reconnect. Then there is the groundskeeper/tree whisperer Noelle. Noelle has been at Carrigan’s for years and is close to Hannah and the Carrigan’s family who have been running the inn forever. Cass was like a mother to Noelle, and she is devastated by her death. She is also resentful of Miriam, of whom she has heard much over the years. She can’t understand why Miriam, whom they love so much, so selfishly stayed away, clearly hurting the Carrigan’s family. Moreover, the history Miriam shares with Hannah and the others makes Noelle feel a bit left out and resentful. Noelle’s situation is further complicated by several factors: her own troubled relationship with her parents, her attraction to Miriam, and her fury that Cass has left Carrigan’s Christmasland to Hannah, Noelle, Levi, and Miriam! Noelle feels like Cass has blindsided her from the grave, and Miriam feels much the same. Miriam is willing to sell her shares to the others, but then they discover that Christmasland is in debt and could go under. These people are going to have to learn to trust each other and work together if they want to save Christmasland.
Sparks- of anger and of passion – will fly between Miriam and Noelle as they and the rest of the Carrigan’s family race the clock to save Christmasland. Each woman will have to wrestle with trauma and face their worst fears. Each will have to learn to have grace and patience with themselves and each other if their relationship is to go anywhere. Given that this story is set during the holidays, there are lots of great scenes involving decorating and celebrating while running an inn that comes alive at Christmas. There’s also plenty of tension, particularly when Miriam has to talk about the trauma of her childhood and her father’s role in her estrangement from her family. Greer deftly walks the tightrope between lighthearted romance and real, dark personal tragedies. It looks like this book is the beginning of a series, and I for one would love to return to Carrigan’s Christmasland.
