A Sliding Doors Moment

Last Christmas by Clare Swatman is a beautiful dual timeline novel that I really loved.

The novel takes place during the first decade of the twenty first century. The reader drops in on each Christmas as well as having a bitesize catch up for the previous year.

Last Christmas is a novel with a difference as we experience a sliding doors moment. When faced with a life changing decision would we choose path A? Or path B? Would the final outcome be the same? Or totally different? Both paths take similar but different routes. The novel alternates between ‘Go’ and ‘Stay’.

The choices run parallel. The leading players are the same but the choices provide some very different outcomes.

This is a novel about love and life, family and friendship, and the choices we make.

Dividing time between London and New York, the reader ‘experiences’ two very different Christmases. There is no doubt that snow, lights and Central Park definitely produce the more romantic of the two options to the reader. Weighed against that is the small family Christmases in London. Where would you choose to spend Christmas?