The Modern Magi: A Christmas Fable - Hardcover

Pearson, Carol Lynn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312193009 ISBN 13: 9780312193003

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1998

Synopsis

In a fable about the true meaning of gift giving and sacrifice, waitress Annabelle Perkins dreams of traveling to Bethlehem and bringing a gift to the birthplace of Jesus

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

A Christmas ``fable'' by the author of A Stranger for Christmas (not reviewed) and Morning Glory Mother (1997). Annabelle Perkins, a spinster of 57 who waits tables, has a little bronze lamb she wants to take to Bethlehem as a gift for baby Jesus. Her mother had always told her that they would take it together. But now her parents are dead. Annabelle deposits $200 on a $2,000 Christmas trip to the Holy Land. She doesn't earn much and has a bad heart as well, but she puts in an extra day a week at the restaurant and by November is ready for the trip. Then, however, she learns that the daughter of one of her regular customers is going to drop out of collegeshe's run out of money. Baby Jesus whispers to Annabelle, Give me my gift now. So Annabelle anonymously sends her savings in a postal money order to the girl. Next year, Annabelle again saves up for the trip, but this time she reads that an ex-boyfriend has a daughter who needs a kidney transplant (price: $50,000). Baby Jesus whispers again. And Annabelle sends the money to the ex, anonymously. Next year, the same kind of giveaway occurs. Now she's too weak to work overtime (and thus save for the fare). But, lo, a miracle takes place. . . . You have to like baby Jesus an awful lot to dig this story. But, after all, Christmas is His birthday. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Pearson's (A Stranger for Christmas) simplistic Christian fable concerns an unremarkable woman who finds that faith enables her to do the most remarkable things. Annabelle Perkins, a 57-year-old unmarried waitress with a weak heart, is set on visiting the Holy Land in order to bring "to the baby Jesus" the gift of a bronze ("but really gold, as gold as the gold of the Magi") lamb her deceased mother has left her. She tells the travel agent, Mr. Olson, that she doesn't need to see Jerusalem, only Bethlehem, and when she leaves his agency she feels suddenly empowered: "She was one of the Magi on a fabulous journey." She scrimps and savesAyet when she finally has enough to pay off the ticket, she discovers that someone else has a greater need of the money. Prompted by the voice of her mother, she gives the money away. Another year passes, and another needier case warrants her hard-earned savings, though Mr. Olson unaccountably informs her that her ticket has been paid in full. Pearson's tale is a kind of Simple Heart for believers; but its mawkish sentimentality combined with wooden and clich?-ridden prose should limit its audience to those who like their doses of spiritual uplift in childlike portions.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312193009
• ISBN 13: 9780312193003
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 90