The holiday read we chose for you this year is exactly that, for the holidays. No, not Christmas.
This is about Hannukah. And no, it’s not ‘kind of the same’ and that is very much the premise of this book.
Abby runs a coffee shop in Vermont, a place she moved to for an escape but stayed because she liked the community and her shop. Truth be told, her coffee shop isn’t doing too well and she’s hoping the Holiday Festival the town is putting on might help draw in some customers.
No, it’s not a Christmas market. It’s a Hannukah festival and as the only Jewish independent shop owner on the tourism board, Abby has been put in charge of organising it. Except she isn’t a very observant Jew since she left her parents’ house (and never went back) and it takes Seth, the other Jew in town and a surprise Hannukah trip back to New York City for her to rediscover the joys of the community and the traditions.
It’s a completely different world – more prominent in the US than the UK – than we are used to, as we just assume everyone kind of assimilates to the Christmas traditions, but it is in fact very different.
The story is peppered with details of Jewish traditions and foods and drinks, some well-known, some less, but it’s transporting us into a completely new kind of celebrations.
As Abby dives back into the celebrations she grew up with, this time surrounded by a sweet and loving family who invited her into their home for the holidays, she is also becoming more confident in taking a stand against Lorna. She was the one who suggested making it a Hannukah festival but is still trying to get a Christmas tree and making it mainstream, but now Abby is ready to take a stand: Hannukah is a beautiful holiday that deserves to be shared with tourists, Jewish or not, and they will enjoy the novelty.
And Seth, her regular at the coffee shop who dragged her to New York? We’ll let you find out for yourselves.
Happy holidays!
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot was published 8th October 2024 by Berkley ISBN-13: 978-0593815830
