Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices: A Holiday Novel of Hope and Healing
The opening lines of this novella "It was a perfect life. And it  was hard for Eric Sanders to imagine how things could be any  better."speak to the fundamental problem with Allen's writing,  which consistently violates the old adage about showing and not  telling. The story is heartbreaking; while wrapping Christmas  presents for his family, Eric answers the front door to find a  policeman bringing the news that his wife and children have been  killed in a car accident. On Christmas Eve, Eric distributes the  gifts that he had bought for his family to other people, and  then the story fast-forwards to several years later when Eric  learns a lesson about how his gifts changed their recipients'  lives. Although this is a sincere and well-intentioned tale of  generosity, it is also saccharine, didactic and unimaginatively  written. (Oct.)Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.