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Content snapshot
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Violence
None
No violence; a car accident in the backstory
Language
Barely any
Mild language throughout
Sexual Content
Barely any
Adult romantic relationship; warm rather than explicit
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
The life unlived as a source of grief, the difficulty of choosing your real life over a perfect dream, what Christmas reveals
What this book is about
Joy Candellaro is a pediatric nurse whose marriage is falling apart and whose life feels hollowed out. After an accident on Christmas Eve, she wakes up in a different version of her own life — one where she has two daughters, a loving husband, and the family she always dreamed of. As the holiday unfolds, Joy has to decide whether to fight to return to her real life or hold onto a dream. Kristin Hannah's Christmas novel is a quiet meditation on the wishes we don't let ourselves make.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
alternate-life premise may be melancholy for some readers
gentle emotional themes throughout
Reader Verification
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