A Christmas in Prague | Helga Jensen
REVIEWED BY LINDA HILL
Helga Jensen
Olivia used to love Christmas until her husband walked out on her for another woman on Christmas Eve. Since then she’s struggled to leave her home. But when her beloved Aunt Grace dies and leaves everything to Olivia on the condition she travels to Prague to find Marek, the love of Grace’s life, Olivia reluctantly finds herself on a new adventure.
A Christmas In Prague: book review & synopsis
This is a sweet and charming story of family, secrets and fresh starts that is filled with romance and the spirit of Christmas in a manner that will warm the heart of any reader.
I loved the ability to travel to Prague for the festive season without having to leave the comfort of my arm chair. Descriptions of the city are clear and enticing, and Helga Jensen treats the reader to local traditions, food and drink, sparkling markets and cobbled streets so gloriously that it truly feels as if you’ve paid a visit personally. The plot takes the reader on a smashing city break!
It is wonderful to find a protagonist who has lived for half a century. Olivia still has her foibles and insecurities, having had her heart broken by husband Craig, but the message that we’re never too old to start again is so positive.
Olivia illustrates that, in order to find true happiness, sometimes we have to take a risk and make ourselves vulnerable. The fact that the story is told by Olivia adds to the impact, as it is as if she is revealing her innermost thoughts to each reader individually.
Whilst there were times I wanted to shake her for her doubts when the truth was staring her in the face, I thought her development over the course of the narrative was honest and realistic.
A second chance for Olivia
The cast of characters is quite small, which lends a sensation of intimacy and intensifies the emotions. The letters Grace has sent to Marek are both sad and uplifting, giving satisfying balance to the story. I also really appreciated the fact that Tomas wasn’t a stereotypical brooding Mr Darcy, but instead he was an obviously kind and caring individual with a problem or two of his own.
With deep love, a sense of responsibility and commitment to family, and sparkling late life romance, A Christmas in Prague embodies the true meaning of the season. As Olivia steps outside her narrowed world and finds second chances and new opportunities, she shows the reader that anything is possible. What could be lovelier than that?
A Christmas In Prague by Helga Jensen is out now (Canelo Hera, PB, £8.99) and available from Amazon.
Read more fiction reviews by Linda Hill including Edith Holler by Edward Carey, The Black Loch by Peter May, Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood, Small Bomb At Dimperley by Lissa Evans, The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers, Scandalous Women by Gill Paul and Island In The Sun by Katie Fforde.
