Merry Spotlight/Review

Usually I’m a no Christmas until after Thanksgiving type of girl, but when Alcove Press reached out about Merry I was drawn in by the promise of a Dickensian haunting. Thanks again to the publisher and author for a chance to read this book.

Synopsis

Merry Bingham used to love Christmas—until she started worrying all the time about family, money, and death. The only thing that continues to bring her joy is reading from her heirloom edition of A Christmas Carol, autographed by Charles Dickens himself and passed down through five generations of her family. Now, as she waits for the results of the medical tests that will tell her whether this Christmas season will be her last, Merry prepares to give her book to the next generation. Except none of her three children wants it.

Merry refuses to surrender Christmas or Dickens without a fight, so she sells the book and uses the money to take her family to London. She will fill them with Christmas joy even if she has to cram it down their throats.

But the harder Merry pushes, the worse everything gets. Her children erupt into vicious arguments, her gentle husband stops talking to her, her deluxe rental apartment is not what was promised. Oh, and she keeps seeing the ghost of Charles Dickens around town—and he is not happy with her.

My Thoughts on Merry

I loved the premise of Merry. And for the most part I enjoyed it. The wit and humor in the beginning pulled me in quickly. But still the main thing I came for was the reference to Dickens and A Christmas Carol. I knew the inclusion of such a famous book and author could go really well or it could fall flat. Thankfully, the author pulled it off really well.

The only drawback that I found with this was the lack of cheer. Honestly, it bordered on the edge of bleakness. I expected some sadness due to the health scare mentioned in the synopsis but I didn’t expect quite this much. That might be a me problem though. I lost my dad around Christmas so this struck a nerve that might not bother others. So take that with a grain of salt. Ultimately, it was a good read but it wasn’t exactly the heartwarming Christmas story that I expected.

About the Author

Susan Breen is the award-winning author both mysteries and “book club” fiction. Her new novel, MERRY, will be published by Alcove Press in Fall 2025. Her short story, “Olga Popova,” won the 2024 Margery Allingham Prize for Short Fiction. Susan is also the author of the Maggie Dove mystery series and the novel, The Fiction Class, which won a Washington Irving Award from the Westchester Library Association.

Susan teaches novel-writing at Gotham Writers and she’s also on the faculty of the New York Pitch Conference. She lives in a very pretty little village on the Hudson River with her husband and two fluffy cockapoo dogs. She has three grandchildren, and they are her treasures (though she loves her three children and their partners as well.)