Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Book #39 in 2005
Finished: 12/27
Title: Silver Bells
Author: Luanne Rice
Genre: Womens Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 210
My Rating: 3/5


Ok I don't say this often, but the movie was better then the book!
I didn't hate the book by no means, it was a nice holiday story... just wasn't what I was hoping for.
First it seemed to repeat the same info over and over and it wasn't anything that was important to the story itself, just things like the color of Christy's eyes and the glasses that Catherine wore. And then the inconsistencies bugged me as well.. In chapter 2 it said Lucy was nine years old, but in chapter 11 they said that Lucy had been three when her Uncle Brian passed away (and that was three years before the story took place) so therefore Lucy would be six not nine years old!

Maybe I'm just being picky lol but I also hate the way they change books for movies, I won't discuss what they changed since it will ruin the book for anyone intending to read it. I would suggest reading the book first which is what I normally do, but since I hadn't known about the book till I had watched the movie on TV this time I did it backwards.

Taking the easy way out lol here is the synopsis from Amazon:

A Christmas tree farmer from Nova Scotia and a lonely New York widow come together in this Christmas weepie by bestseller Rice (Beach Girls, etc.). Catherine Tierney, a corporate librarian who lives in a 19th-century townhouse on a quaint street in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, used to love Christmas until her husband, Brian, died of cancer. Each year, she awaits a sign from him that'll let her know he's watching over her. Christy Byrne, a widower from Nova Scotia, is in Manhattan with his 12-year-old daughter, Bridget, to sell his Christmas trees. Every night he leaves his boarding house in Chelsea to go looking for his estranged 16-year-old son, Danny, who ran off the year before. When Danny resurfaces and it's revealed that he's been living on the streets with the help of Catherine and her friend Lizzie, they all realize that their paths have crossed many times, and that they've touched each other's lives more than they could imagine. Thrown together in their shared concern for Danny, Christy and Catherine help each other forget their troubled pasts and move toward the future together. Rice's romanticized vision of Manhattan is sharpened by local detail, and her heartwarming Christmas story will please readers who like a nice dose of pathos with their holiday fare.

3 comments:

  1. I watched this movie a few weeks ago on TV, and I really liked it. It does sound like the book is a lot different, considering her husband wasn't mentioned a whole heck of a lot in the movie. I guess I'm glad I didn't waste my time w/ the book since you say the movie was better.

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  2. Was Lucy even in the movie at all? I can't remember seeing her, I know I missed part of the beginning of the movie, but Lucy (Lizzie's daughter) had a pretty big part in the book! And yes Brian, Catherine's deceased husband was a main focal point in the book.
    And the book barely let us see the relationship between Danny and Christy before Danny took off in NY.
    Trust me ;) no big loss not reading this one! But I did enjoy Beach Girls by Luanne Rice earlier this year, so the author is not a total loss in my book :)
    Hugs
    ~Amy

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  3. No, I don't believe there was a character named Lucy. Matter of fact, there wasn't much of a focus on Catherine's life prior to her meeting this family at all. I might check out Beach Girls though.

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