A Christmas Message
A Novel
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
In the spirit of the season, New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry presents readers with the gift of another holiday mystery, taking them to the Holy Land for an intriguing and miraculous journey of discovery.
The year is 1900, and Victor Narraway is giving his wife, Vespasia, an unforgettable Christmas present—a trip to Jerusalem. Vespasia is enchanted by the exotic landscape of Palestine, and charmed by a fellow traveler the Narraways meet at their hotel in Jaffa. But when the man is murdered over a torn piece of ancient parchment he was taking to Jerusalem, Victor and Vespasia risk their lives to finish his mission and deliver the puzzling document to its home. Pursued by a shadowy figure with evil intent, they embark on a dangerous yet ultimately enlightening pilgrimage to the holy city, where the mysterious message on the parchment may finally be revealed.
Rich in suspense and wonder, A Christmas Message is at once a breathtaking adventure story and a poignant meditation on faith and spirituality.
Praise for A Christmas Message
“A strangely intriguing mystery handled neatly by the wonderfully capable Victor [Narraway] and [his new wife, Lady] Vespasia.”—Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Metaphysical concerns weigh down bestseller Perry's unsatisfying 14th Christmas-themed mystery (after 2015's A Christmas Escape). In 1900, Victor Narraway, the former head of London's Special Branch, gives his wife, Vespasia, a trip to Jerusalem, a present whose "spiritual resonance" surprises her. On a stopover in Jaffa, the pair encounter a kind old man at their hotel, but when they return to their lodging on the following evening, Victor finds the man with his throat slit and his room ransacked. Meanwhile, Victor discovers a piece of parchment in his jacket pocket evidently from the dead man. Folded within the parchment is an unsigned note beseeching Victor to deliver it to "House of Bread on the Via Dolorosa" by Christmas Eve. The Narraways feel morally obliged to fulfill the request, a choice that places their lives in danger from a shadowy menace. The heavy-handed spiritual struggle the couple subsequently endures leaves the reader with the sense that the important themes Perry explores would have been better suited to a longer work.
Customer Reviews
An Unusual Christmas Mystery
A Christmas Message (Christmas Stories#14) by Anne Perry was not at all like I thought it would be, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it. Sometimes I find myself picking up a story to read and starting it before I read the book description relying only on the title. You can find some awesome surprises that way. That was the case with this book.
This novella begins in 1900, two days before Christmas in Palestine. Victor Narraway has given his wife Vespasia an unforgettable trip to Jerusalem as a Christmas present. Jerusalem, even in 1900, was a city held sacred by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike as the birthplace of their religions, and a center of conflict for thousands of years. It is also the destination of thousands of the faithful on pilgrimage.
Victor and Vespasia meet an old man, an astronomer, at their hotel in Jaffa. Enjoying a dinner with him, Vespasia senses a man watching the old man, but the old man seems to not care. Later that evening, Victor and Vespasia find him murdered in his hotel room. Victor then discovers a small parchment folded within his pocket, left there by the old astronomer. The old man asks Victor and Vespasia to finish the mission he was on and deliver the parchment to Jerusalem by Christmas Eve. They embark on a mysterious journey, pursued by a dark and evil figure, that becomes their own pilgrimage to the Holy City.
This book made much more sense when I realized that it is an allegory for the three wise men reaching Bethlehem. The name Victor and Vespasia give to the old astronomer is Balthazar, one of the wise men who carried myrrh to the infant Jesus. The destination Victor and Vespasia were given to deliver the parchment to is the House of Bread on the Via Dolorosa, symbolically, bread is life. Also in Hebrew, Bethlehem is Beit Lechem and means the house of bread. And there is the consistent theme throughout the book of following the stars.
They also end their journey in the upper room. The Upper Room was where the disciples met after they had seen the risen Jesus. The trip for Victor and Vespasia eventually turns into their own pilgrimage of faith as they discover the depths of their faith and each other’s.
There is much more symbolism written into this story if you take the time to think about it as you read. It is both hidden and up in your face. The underlying message is that our time here on Earth is a path towards an eternity of our own choosing, either a path of love and forgiveness or a path of hate and darkness. Each religion, despite their own rituals and spectacles, are based on love and forgiveness. Through this all mankind may find peace for eternity despite religious differences.
Sometimes this book was a little difficult to follow. Some of the people seemed almost unreal adding to the feeling of mystery. Even though the language used in this book may seem a little pretentious, I think it added to the feeling of the time period in which this book takes place. I enjoyed this book as being something entirely unexpected with a message that is as good at Easter, Yom Kippur, Ramadan, or Christmas. Take time to read it and think about it.