“Molly & Anna” by Sarah Holman

Today, I’m excited to share about the release of the individual stories that were originally part of the A Very Bookish Christmas novella collection. Each story takes elements from classic books and incorporates them into the story. This weekend, three of the four stories will now be available on Kindle! Today I'll be reviewing one of the books; my second review will come tomorrow! :)

Molly & Anna

 by Sarah Holman

Synopsis: 

With the death of her sister near Christmas time, Lacie becomes the guardian of two girls of mixed heritage. Caring for them is harder than she ever imagined. She’s confronted daily with memories she would rather forget and her own prejudice. No matter what, she is determined to give her two nieces the best Christmas she can.
Molly hasn’t seen her aunt Lacie in a long time, but she is determined to be glad, like in the book Pollyanna. It isn’t as easy. She misses her parents, her home, the mission her parents worked in, and her friends. She cannot understand why Aunt Lacie doesn’t like to talk about her father, but she will do whatever she needs to make a new start for her and her sister. 

(From Amazon)

My Review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

5 stars & 5/10 hearts. What a perfect retelling! This is all a retelling should be, in my opinion—similar enough for one to quickly know which book it’s retelling, but different enough to be its own unique story. I think all of the main elements of “Pollyanna” were in this story, and as someone who’s known, loved, and reread “Pollyanna” all my life, I was so happy with this story. I totally loved how Sarah tackles a difficult subject and how she handles it. It’s really very well done!! Lacie’s journey was lovely & the ending was prefect. Jared was amazing too. And I loved the two little girls. Also, the father sounds like a simply wonderful man and I quite admired him, even if he was never in an actual scene. I’m looking forwards to the next retelling! 

A Favourite Quote: “‘You know that even though her husband is real mean, she never says anything bad about him? She doesn’t lie about him either, she just talks about how good God is to her.’”

A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘Since I was there, Miss Hines tried to recruit me into helping with the play.’

“Aunt Lacie shook her head. ‘That woman would have the whole church involved if she could. Did she persuade you?’

“... ‘She sure did[.]’

“‘I’m glad you’re going to help.’ Molly liked Jared. 

“‘You are? ... Well, that settles it. I don’t want you to be unglad.’”

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for promotional purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*

Get this book:

America | Canada

Classic that inspired the story: Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.

Random fun fact: Jared from this story might possibly be the same Jared featured in another of Sarah’s Christmas stories, Distorted Glass (but he was younger in that story).

Find it on Amazon and Goodreads.

And the same group is putting out an all-new collection this fall! You can add it to Goodreads now. 

To celebrate the release of the three Christmas stories, the authors are giving away an Amazon gift card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway