Robin Jones Gunn, Finding Father Christmas

Finding Father Christmas

Robin Jones Gunn

Faith Words, Oct 2007, $13.99

ISBN: 9780446526296

In San Francisco raised by her single mother, Miranda Carson feels profoundly lonely and finds a deep need to meet her biological father, a man she has never met. Her clues as to who he is are somewhat meager. She has an old photograph that she assumes is her father while on its back is stamped a studio in Carlton Heath, England; a birth certificate; and a playbill for The Tempest starring her mother in a Michigan theatre.

With nothing to keep her in the states, Miranda decides to spend Christmas in England in search of her father. From London she goes to Bexley Lane, the address in the photo. There she is treated with warmth and friendship starting with a cup of tea and ending at the community production of A Christmas Carol and the party afterward. Although she feels some guilty for not revealing who she or her mission especially when she realizes her dad is hero to these kind people, Miranda feels at home for the first time in a long time.

The deep characterizations make this Christmas tale a winner. The English family and Miranda seem real as she debates telling these loving people the truth, which mean hurting an image they have of her father. Mindful of While You Were Sleeping, FINDING FATHER CHRISTMAS is a wonderful uplifting Yuletide tale that emphasizes everyone needs to feel welcomed and loved.

Harriet Klausner