The Letter, the final episode of Richard Paul Evans's Christmas Box trilogy (The Christmas Box, Timepiece), begins in the winter of 1933. A bent and bereft hag is spotted crouching over the snowy grave of Andrea Parkin, David Parkin's three-year-old daughter who died twenty years prior. When the night watchman approaches the figure and tells her the cemetery is closed, she mysteriously disappears, leaving behind one red rose and a letter. When the child's mother comes to pay respect the following day, she finds the letter and its shocking news. Could David's mother be alive? The search for the answer sends David on a cross-country journey and into the arms of another woman. But the knowledge he gains gives him the strength to make the ultimate sacrifice for his loved ones. The dialogue is at times overly portentous, such as: "'David, what your mother is, or was, has nothing to do with who you are.' David shook his head. 'It has everything to do with who I am. Especially now. My mother's leaving is the reason I cannot forgive myself for losing my daughter.'" And one tires of Evans's three favorite words--"ardent," "gasp," and "cacophony." But fans of his sentimental journeys will want to keep their hankies handy.

Genre: Romance