On The First Day Of Christmas by Faith Hogan

 

On the First Day of Christmas by Faith Hogan.

Published in ebook 13th October 2022 by Aria, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

This Christmas, everything will change...

When Liv Latimer says goodbye to her fellow nurses and finishes work for the holidays, she's looking forward to a Christmas to remember with her boyfriend Eddie.

But as she leaves the hospital, tragedy strikes and Liv is faced with a choice. Will she ignore her instincts and go home as planned? Or will she stay, and potentially change the course of her life as she knows it?

Whatever choice she makes, Liv is about to discover that fate finds a way...

***********

It is Christmas Eve and nurse Liv Latimer is looking forward to heading home to Ballycove, on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, to spend some time with her family for the holiday. She is sure that this will be a very special one too, as she is convinced that her boyfriend Eddie will finally be asking her to marry him.

But as Liv leaves the hospital, she is involved in an incident that leaves her with a choice. Should she head home as planned, or stay behind in Dublin and follow the pull of destiny that is tugging at her?

What could be nicer that a story that takes you back to glorious Ballycove, where it is always like being among old friends? Well, how about a story that takes place in Ballycove at Christmas? Now you are talking! But this is also an unusual Ballycove story, because in On the First Day of Christmas Faith Hogan works the cleverest of Christmas magic, making it a Dublin tale in equal measure by following the Sliding Doors principle, with two parallel story lines that diverge at a fateful moment in time. 

When nurse Liv Latimer leaves work on Christmas Eve, with her head full thoughts of a comforting break with her family, and the flutter of excitement at the prospect of a hoped-for marriage proposal, something happens that splits the potential course of her life into two paths. In one she continues on to Ballycove and the family reunion she has been looking forward to, and in the other she follows her instincts and stays in Dublin. It is really difficult to talk about either of the timelines without giving the game away, which I really do not want to do, but suffice to say that both offer Liv a chance to reflect on where life has brought her, but in different ways. In true Sliding Doors style, things are not always as they appear at first sight, and it is hard to tell which timeline will ultimately prove to be the one that offers Liv the happiness she has been looking for since the tragic death of her twin sister Rachel - although in both the prospect of marriage to her hopeless boyfriend Eddie, and the resulting horror of a mother-in-law, is not something to be wished for.

It is surprisingly easy to keep track of the parallel stories in the text as they are helpfully printed in different fonts, and they swap back and forth to build up a picture of what fate holds for Liv in each one. Many of the same characters crop up in both - notably Eddie and his awful mother Barbara, Liv's parents and younger sister Maya, and Liv's best friend Pete with his deceitful girlfriend Anya in tow, with name drops for some familiar faces you might know if you have spent any time in Ballycove too. As each separate storyline unfurls, they flip back and forth more frequently, which builds pace, and this ratchets up the suspense until they come crashing together in the most unexpected manner.

There are so many things I love about this book, including the delicious way Hogan keeps where her real intentions lie hidden until the climax of the story. As in all her books, this one revolves around the trials and tribulations, the hopes and dreams, that we can all relate to about family, friendship, loss, and the pivotal decisions that we make. She has such a talent for working these themes through to heart-warming, bittersweet conclusions, so it is not a surprise that the same is true of this story. But there is also an extra dimension here that makes the absolute best of the magic that comes with a tale set at Christmas, by weaving in the enchanting whisper of a supernatural guiding hand from Liv's late sister Rachel to ensure everything works out the way it should.

I adored this book. The way Hogan uses the idea of 'the road not taken' is so moving, and I was really struck with her use of green and gold to tie Liv and Rachel together. This story made me laugh, it made me cry, and it even made me angry at times (Eddie, Barbara and Anya I am looking pointedly at you here!). I ran the gauntlet of emotions very much as I expected from one of Hogan's books, finishing with a heart that was full, and many tears shed - and I would not have changed a thing. What an excellent book to get the festive reading season underway!

On the First Day of Christmas is available to buy now in ebook (in paperback from October 2023) from your favourite book retailer, or via the links here:

Waterstones     Amazon

Thank you to Aria for sending me a Netgalley copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Faith lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, four children and two very fussy cats. 

She has an Hons Degree in English Literature and Psychology, has worked as a fashion model and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.