Beautiful Star of Bethlehem: A Christmas Novella

by Lori Copeland

Meet Arlene Santana, a vibrant wife and young grandmother whose life suddenly takes a confusing and often laughable turn into a new reality framed by a severe brain injury. As one holiday after another speeds by, Arlene takes comfort in the amusing old people who surround her in the rehabilitation center and one special friend who relates well to Arlene. But when will her husband, whose love is more real to her than anything, come to visit her? Treasure this Christmas novella from bestselling author Lori Copeland that demonstrates the healing power of true love.

Genres: Christmas, Christian Fiction, Contemporary, Novella, Fiction, Christian

283 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Lori Copeland was born on 12 June 1941. She had a relatively late start in writing, breaking into publishing in 1982 when she was already forty years old. Over the next dozen years, her romance novels achieved much success, as was evidenced by her winning the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books' Best Seller award. She has been inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame.

Despite her success in more mainstream romantic fiction, in 1995, she decided to switch focus. Her subsequent books have been in the relatively new subgenre of Christian romance. She has also collaborated with authors Angela Elwell Hunt or Virginia Smith on a series of Christian romance novels.

Lori and her husband of over forty years, Lance, live in Springfield, Missouri, surrounded by the beautiful Ozarks. They have three grown sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six wonderful grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. She and her husband are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sweet novella follows the new life of an active 50-something year old woman named Arlene who ends up in a rehabilitation center as her new home. Her memory has been severely compromised by a traumatic brain injury. We meet her "table-mates" who are a group of elders with their own quirks, a very special friend named Una, and her family who do their best to help her adjust. The story is ultimately about friends, family, and love. A perfect little Christmas read for a raw windy day in front of the fire. Recommended for all.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet heart felt story. Made me smile and shed a tear.....so glad I read this.

[Karen R · Rating 5 out of 5]

One minute Arlene and her husband are on their way to see their new grandchild, and the next thing she knows, she wakes up in a longterm care facility. Unsure of most things, except her faith and the love of her family, she begins a new and somewhat confusing chapter of her life.

This touching, insightful, and at times quite humorous story points out that most of the things we busy ourselves with in life don't really matter in the end. When everything is stripped away, faith, hope and love remain. Good read! Recommend!

(Thank you to NetGalley and Shiloh Run Press for this book provided in exchange for my honest, unsolicited review.)

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't think of a more beautiful Christmas story. It's about love and family, life,death, and dignity. Arlene has a brain injury that leaves her with only hints of her memory. She's is in an assisted living facility, coping the best she can. Her family comes to visit but she never remembers their visits or at times, their names. She is such a loving, giving woman who still keeps her deep faith and relies on the kindness of others to move forward one day at a time. The book revolves around various holidays, mainly Christmas. You laugh and smile, you cry and are thankful for the love and life you live. A must for almost everyone on my Christmas list.

[Rhonda]

Being a young grandmother in my fifties as the main character, Arlene Santana, is in the book, this book resonated with me. It could just as easily happen to me or my friends. This book really held my attention as I just felt so bad for Arlene who was trapped in a world that seemed entirely foreign to her. Her family discussed whether or not the rehabilitation center was best for her, but for the majority of the book, she remained locked in it. Yes, it seemed to be one of those centers that is far above others due to the money they charged. Arlene waits and waits for her husband but her family only tells her that he is away and can't come ......for years. I had to wonder here if honesty wouldn't have been a wiser option to answer Arlene's desperate pleas.
This is definitely a 5-star book and will give readers a great deal to ponder.
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life does not always require memory to recall love.

The once lovely, vivacious, happily married Arlene Santana finds herself trapped in an endless cycle of confusion following a private plane crash on an icy cold winter evening. Searching for her husband in this altered state of reality, she endlessly inquires about him ; bearing the loss of his loving presence in her life on a daily basis. Barely recognizing her grown children, she is placed in an upscale residential care facility where strangers serve as substitute family and friends perpetuating Arlene's struggle to understand the cycle of days, weeks, months, and years without him. . . . . ..until one Christmas, a unique celebration brings healing in more ways than one.

"Beautiful Star of Bethlehem", although short, is quite unique.

[Deanne Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arlene and her husband Jack are on their way to see their new grand baby when they are involved in an airplane accident due to icing on the wings. The accident causes the death of her husband and a brain injury to her. Her sons and daughter in laws put her in a rehabilitation center surrounded by old people. She is locked in her mind with amnesia whose symptoms closely mimic dementia. Unknown to her her husband dies in the accident but her family won't tell her so she keeps asking for him and they tell her he is busy and keep telling her that for years. Even though this one is short, Arlene's story will stay with you .

[Todd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful little book with a beautiful cover and title. It's a depressing story with a trite, contrived ending. Maybe it would have worked better if it hadn't been written in first person. I doubt it. It's redundant and boring and poorly written. The attempts at humor come late in the book and they're just not funny. Mistaking KY Jelly for breakfast jelly? Oh please. I finished the book because I'm not a quitter, but then promptly tossed it in the trash. The pages were too stiff to use as toilet paper.

[Bo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the praise for this book inside the front cover, I was prepared to love this book. I didn't. I found it quite a sad story, and a bit confusing at times. But I did like the ending. I also thought it might be good for family reading aloud together, but there was a small section that I thought was inappropriate. Read it yourself and come to your own conclusions.

[Christy Shepherd templeton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice read that reminds you even when life changes in an instant that parts of it are always with you.

[Carol Cassada · Rating 3 out of 5]

One minute Arlene Santana is preparing for a trip with her husband Jack to meet their new grandbaby. The next, she finds herself in a rehab facility unable to remember anything.

When I read the blurb it touched at my heartstrings. I thought it’d be a heartwarming holiday story about love and family.

The author does incorporate the topics of love and family, but aside from that the story fell flat.

I sympathized with Arlene because she couldn’t remember anything about her life, including her husband and her kids. She’s confused, lonely, and nervous as she enters her new residence at the facility. No one will give her answers about what’s going on for fear it could affect her health.

There are some humorous moments with Arlene and her new pals Gwen, Frances, and Eleanor. The group tends to create a ruckus at the center.

There are some heartwarming moments too, especially toward the end.

However, most of the time the story left you feeling too sad. It was heart wrenching reading about the years going by with Arlene still having no recollection of anything. Aside from Arlene’s saga, there’s also side stories involving her kids, who have their own troubles.

In one chapter, they’re confiding in Arlene about their problems, and a couple of pages later, everything goes back to normal for them without any resolution.

The story sounded promising, but it could’ve used a few touch ups.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty-something Arlene, a woman deeply in love with her husband and eager to go meet her new grandbaby during the Christmas season, finds herself living a confusing life in a rehabilitation center with a curious set of older people in Beautiful Star of Bethlehem by author Lori Copeland.

For me, this was an unusual choice for a holiday read. Having skimmed the blurb, I figured that, despite the lovely book cover sparkling with Christmas promise, this wouldn't be a book to give me feel-good warm-and-fuzzies for the season. It is indeed a story that broaches a difficult subject, and it's not the kind of read I'd necessarily recommend to anyone in a depressed place.

Yet, hard as this fairly quick read was for me at times, it was ultimately worthwhile. Even considering the heroine's plight, I found her perspective interesting and even chuckle-worthy here and there. Certain stories give me a safe place to ponder ideas and how I might apply them, and Arlene's reflections on happiness are worth reflecting on.

It's the kind of story that reminds me that even in the midst of life's trials and imperfections, hope can still be found, and love can still be given and received.

[Kristie J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story about a 50-something woman, Arlene, who is in a plane crash with her husband and ends up in an old-folks home because she has head injuries that made her lose her memory. She can't remember what happens day to day and has no sense of time passing. She is so confused and can only remember bits and pieces of her life, sometimes in random flashes. Her two sons and their wives visit her regularly but she can barely remember their names. The story is told is bits and pieces from Arlene's disjointed point of view and paints an interesting portrait of what it's like to live in a nursing home. It's only a Christmas book because many of the scenes take place at Christmastime, when Arlene's family comes and visits her in the home. This was a 5-star book up until the very last chapter which was such an odd and abrupt ending, totally not what I was expecting, that I took a star off.
Arlene's friend Una was just her reflection in the mirror, right? So, basically Arlene spent a lot of her time talking to herself in the mirror and her family became alarmed and decided to move her back to her original home?

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping for a feel good story for the holidays with this one. But being a care giver for my mother and knowing what memory can do and how it can alter and make one believe they are still in the good old days of ones life when we aren't this book saddened me quite a bit. But still, for a sad story it hit the spot and I felt I knew the characters well enough to be going through the tragedy and hardship with them.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good novella. As a quick read, it delivered enough details that you could enjoy the characters and the story built around them. In some ways, this was a difficult read because it was hard to envision Arlene's life after such a traumatic event.

The author does a good job of bringing the characters to life...with all their quirks and crazy antics. The book will find you laughing and crying, your heart aching, and feeling that you can find good things in the midst of tragedy.

[Shandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy to read book!
After a plane crash, life seemed full of confusion as a family tries to come to grips with a mother's amnesia, that leaves her unsure what happened to her husband, whom she is sure will show up at the "home" she is staying in. Having been on her way to meet her infant grandchild, time seems lost and yet, time seems to stand still as confusion and memories are sporadic and often not making sense.

[Inisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was ok. I wasn't sure impressed with it; however, I did like the perspective from the grandma's point of view. The ended was better that I was expecting, but I feel there was more missing to the overall story. That being said with the main character suffering from a mental illness, that may be why I felt something was missing as she was confused and it was from her point of view. Overall the story was good.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. One minute Arlene and her husband are on their way to meet their first granddaughter Ella. The next moment Arlene is in a long term facility, to her she's been sick a few weeks but it's longer. She's trying to find her husband Jack but no one knows when he will come, she slowly makes friends and learns to adapt. Lovely story!

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is not your typical "feel good" book, it is worth reading due to the situations faced by some of our loved ones who have memory challenges and their families. Here we read about joy, tragedy and return to joy, as well as sadness and happiness. Genuine love and the promise of heaven for those who love God provide hope.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack and Arlene have a beautiful life. Successful happily married life. They are flying to meet their new granddaughter and their plane crashes. Then all is a fog for Arlene. She doesn’t remember anything. In a strange place with strange people and she doesn’t remember much at all. Really a sad story. Not much about it is Christmas at all.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glimpse into how a person with dementia or similar memory issues might view their world, told through Christmases over time. Not a typical Christmas story, heartbreaking at times, but good insight into the dance between the confusion and the moments of clarity, the forgetfulness and the cherished memories.

[Joe Keefhaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual, thought-provoking story about a woman who loses her memory after a plane crash in which she was seriously injured and her husband was killed. She ends up in a nursing home, trying to make sense of the world and reconnecting with her family. It will make you cry.

[Stevie Ciske · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of boring. Not even sure all the sentences were complete thoughts. But I needed to get a short book in for my goal. I was sad it wasn't better
Perhaps just not my style. Story line follows a woman facing memory issues as she lives in a nursing home.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arlene Santana and her husband are flying to see their new grandbaby when tragedy occurs. Arlene suddenly finds herself in a rehabilitation facility wondering who the strangers are that come to visit her. Whatever happened to baby Ella? This story is about coming to terms with loss.

[Mary West · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't quite what I expected but was such a sweet story. It really makes you look at life a little differently and it was a great reminder to be thankful for who we have in our lives and that we can always find a reason to be happy.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very different but interesting read. Quick read..

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very sad for a Christmas story! Glad I read it, but definitely not a "feel good" story!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly unusual but very, very sweet; and not really much about Christmas.

[Kris Durtschi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tender story that reflects the spirit of Christmas, of friendship, of family, and true love.

[Sharon Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt story that teaches one to always be thankful for your life, because that can all change in a split-second.