Silent Days, Holy Night by Phyllis Clark Nichols

The sounds of Christmases past echo through a silent house . . .  

Everyone in town knows Emerald Crest, the green granite mansion atop the highest hill: the legendary, lavish Christmas festivities that used to light up the nights— and the silence that followed when the parties abruptly stopped many years ago. And everyone has heard whispers about the reclusive, mysterious master of the manor, Henry Lafferty the Second . . .

When eleven-year-old Julia Russell steps into the great house for the first time and meets Mr. Lafferty, the entire course of her life is altered. She meets a man who is nothing at all like the rumors she’s heard from neighbors and classmates. He’s kind and extraordinarily talented—he also happens to be deaf and uses a wheelchair. And when she overhears a secret about him, Julia decides it’s time for the town to bring Christmas back to Emerald Crest—an act that will change them all forever.

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About The Author

Phyllis Clark Nichols’s character-driven Southern fiction explores profound human questions using the imagined residents of small town communities you just know you’ve visited before. With a strong faith and a love for nature, art, music, and ordinary people, she tells redemptive tales of loss and recovery, estrangement and connection, longing and fulfillment . . . often through surprisingly serendipitous events.

Phyllis grew up in the deep shade of magnolia trees in South Georgia. Born during a hurricane, she is no stranger to the winds of change: In addition to her life as a novelist, Phyllis is a seminary graduate, concert pianist, and cofounder of a national cable network with health- and disability-related programming. Regardless of the role she’s playing, Phyllis brings creativity and compelling storytelling.

She frequently appears at conventions, conferences, civic groups, and churches, performing half-hour musical monologues that express her faith, joy, and thoughts about life—all with the homespun humor and gentility of a true Southern woman.

Phyllis currently serves on several nonprofit boards. She lives in the Texas Hill Country with her portrait-artist husband.

Website: PhyllisClarkNichols.com
Facebook: facebook.com/PhyllisCNichols
Twitter: twitter.com/PhyllisCNichols


My Review

Oh, how I loved this story, it renews your faith in humanity, and make sure you read to the end for the epilogue, it will bring tears to your eyes.
What a treat this story is, I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and wish it could have continued! This book brings a true meaning of Christmas, and the author places you right in the middle, as we walk with the main character, a precocious eleven-year-old Julia and a reclusive deaf man who has a gift of carving.
This book would make a wonderful movie, and I would be sure to watch!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Gilead, and was not required to give a positive review.