Fallen Angel
-
-
4.3 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
When I looked up again, Mr. Halworth's red cap was gone. I wondered if his daughter had watched him disappear, and I turned to look at her. It took a little time for me to see that she was staring at her shoes. They were shiny shoes, and she was holding them up off the floor. One had slipped off her heel and was balancing from her toes. We sat there long enough for me to begin to feel responsible for her. At last I moved close enough to reach down and slide the shoe back on her foot.
One night can change a life. For eight-year-old Terry McQuinn, it was a snowy Christmas Eve on the coast of Maine, when Terry glimpsed a world he'd never seen before -- a "summer people's" world unknown to the son of a caretaker. Serenity Cottage was a place of beauty and privilege owned by the luminous Halworths -- but in the blink of an eye, a tragic accident left the family in ruins.
Now thirty years later, Terry has spent his life putting distance between himself and his history. Determined not to follow in his father's footsteps, he became a high-flying Hollywood film agent -- but has somehow lost himself along the way.
Terry is finally called back to Maine by the death of his father -- but in the workshop Terry comes across a note in his father's hand that stops him cold: Open Serenity for Christmas. No one has been in the house since that fateful night three decades earlier. Although Terry's first instinct is to leave it all behind, he soon discovers that Katherine Halworth, the girl from thirty years before, is the new owner. With her arrival imminent, Terry's past comes rushing back.
In the hands of critically acclaimed author Don J. Snyder, Fallen Angel is a warm and unique Christmas tale, reminding us that it's never too late to forgive -- and never too late to love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A tinted review in adult Forecasts indicates a book that's of paramount importance to our readers but that hasn't received a starred of boxed review. FALLEN ANGELDon J. Snyder. Pocket, $20 (304p) In this latest novel from the bestselling author of The Cliff Walk, Snyder seeks so obstinately to charm and inspire that verisimilitude is nearly abandoned. For the first third of the novel, Snyder's cajoling almost works, as he reminds readers of life's little "coincidences" and their power to transform lives, but the relentless sweetness soon begins to pall. Terry McQuinn is a wealthy Hollywood agent who returns to his childhood town in Maine when he finds out that his estranged father, a caretaker of an oceanfront retreat of summer cottages for the rich, is deathly ill. After his father dies, Terry revisits his father's shop, where he discovers a final work order. The note reminds Terry of the long ago night when he met Charles Halworth and Charles's daughter, Katherine. That night, Mr. Halworth skidded off the road, striking and killing a mother and her baby, and that same night Terry left his family forever. The work order is from Katherine, who has decided to return to the beachfront cottage for Christmas. Terry prepares the place and in doing so discovers things about his father, and himself. Snyder adroitly handles dialogue and a presentation of the perils of self-absorption. Unfortunately, Terry's transformation is virtually seamless, sped along by characters eager to help and by his almost preternatural ability to tap experiences for lessons. The result is a sentimental tale sure to win a few hearts, but more likely to test the patience of those who demand that inner discovery produce more than truisms and who believe miracles stem not from fantasy but reality.
