Mistletoe and Magic

*Self Sacrifice*

Eva Coleman, a young woman growing increasingly jaded, feels her life is dictated by her domineering mother. Her two older siblings have the freedom to grow, while Eva’s life is a marketing job she’s not passionate about. It’s her mother’s pride and joy, the job being orchestrated by her mother.

Eva’s appearance is meticulously controlled: the right clothes, hair, and even a boyfriend. He’s equally dominant, and when he decides to take her to a nice restaurant a proposal is highly anticipated. . But when it’s a breakup, Eva finds herself in limbo. They’ve planned a holiday, his choice, leaving her unsure of what to do.

Encouraged by her best friend, Eva decides to change the holiday destination. She’s always loved writing, but her mother’s influence has stifled her creativity. Inspired by her love for British writers, she swaps Nashville for York in Yorkshire. Eva, feeling trapped in her beige life, heads to the airport, telling her mother as her flight departs.

In York, Eva discovers a newfound sense of freedom and a chance to make her own decisions. She stumbles upon a quirky bookstore and, while browsing, a book falls at her feet. When she looks up the shelves are full with no space for the book. The bookshop owner tells her the book was waiting for the right person. Eva then learns about Margaret, a woman who fell in love while nursing a military man but was already engaged. She never forgot him, and there’s much more to her story.

York becomes a magical place for Eva, filled with unexpected events. Eva’s journey in York is just beginning, and she’s about to meet a grumpy Yorkshireman who might just change her life.

Eva discovers that Margaret never took the plunge with the soldier and went along with the planned marriage. To fill the void in her life she spent her life helping others. There are so many people who have a story to tell about her. Most of the time she hated praise and denied the help she gave. The magic is about her legacy and the things that she did. She constantly tried to fill the hole in her life and she never forgot the American soldier.

More revelations come to fore in the form of notes, letters etc most of it came to Eva in various ways and she sees there is a story to be told, especially when one of Margaret’s legacy properties comes under threat.

Can Eva turn things around with what may have to be the best story she has ever written to help the community filled with people who owe their lives and livelihoods to Margaret…. A certain Yorkshireman is not happy but Eva living in her new self grows a backbone and stands up to him….

This also made me think that Eva knows like Margaret what it’s like to make a sacrifice about life for different reasons. There is a line that Eva calls it ‘Catastrophizing yourself out of joy’