Page Turners

September

A Simple Gift
by Karyn Witmer
Dell Publishing
Reviewed by Lynda Burch

A SIMPLE GIFT is a warm and moving story about a family broken apart and finding a way to heal the rift with their traditional Christmas gift. It is a story of a mother’s love, a husband’s betrayal, too many secrets and a daughter’s independence.

Avery and Mike Montgomery’s only child, Fiona, dropped out of college to be a rock band groupie, but after eighteen months of silence she secretly returns to her hometown. Avery’s shock at finally finding her daughter safe and sound just miles from home leads the entire family into a crisis of reunion that threatens to tear them apart forever. Cleverly interwoven into this story is a simple, traditional gift that has been passed down through the generations.

Witmer has written an intricate tale with characters you feel like you’ve known forever. I was drawn in by the complexity of relationships of mother, father and daughter and even the supportive town members.  The town Witmer paints seems like the town next door. My grandmother once said about a book, “Why that’s just like a real town.” And that’s just what this book is-- real. The conflict and drama are poignant, the cast of characters is authentic and the plot is engaging and fresh.

This book makes me want to start a family tradition of a simple gift at Christmas. A SIMPLE GIFT is a keeper and will be pulled off the shelf to be read time and time again.