Srebrne dzwonki

by Luanne Rice

Every year on the first day of December, Christopher Byrne traveled from his farm in Nova Scotia to sell his Christmas trees on the streets of Manhattan. But this year there'd be no cheer for the widower and his twelve-year-old daughter, Bridget. For New York City had taken Christy's only son, headstrong sixteen-year-old Danny, who'd run off without a trace.

Librarian Catherine Tierney used to love the holidays: the lights, the carols, the nip in the air. But after her husband's death on Christmas Eve three years ago, the festivities seemed to start too early and last too long. Just before he died, Brian told his wife that he'd never leave her, that every Christmas he'd send Catherine a sign. On the quaint Chelsea street where she lives, Catherine will meet the tree seller from Novia Scotia. Both figured the world had forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. But they hadn't counted on finding each other, on fate, on second chances. . . and on a holiday gift of new love and new hope to last a lifetime.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Fiction, Holiday, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

221 pages

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-eight novels, translated into thirty languages. Rice often writes about love, family, nature, and the sea. Most recently she has written thrillers, including one based on a murder that affected her family. She received the 2014 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award for excellence and lifetime achievement in the Literary Arts category.
Connecticut College awarded Rice an honorary degree and invited her to donate her papers to the College’s Special Collections Library. They are archived in the Luanne Rice Collection.
Rice has also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from St. Joseph University in West Hartford, Conn.
Several of Rice's novels have been adapted for television. Her monologue for the play Motherhood Out Loud premiered at Hartford Stage and has been performed Off-Broadway in NYC and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Rice is a Creative Affiliate of the Safina Center. She lives in southeastern Connecticut.

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this story. My first time reading this author. It was a very heartwarming story that takes place during the Christmas season.

[Beth F · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book that was approximately 200 pages, the plot was surprisingly complex. And by complex, what I actually mean is coincidentally complex, because by the end, everyone and everything was neatly tied up with a Christmas bow and a heaping helping of Christmas magic.

Now, let’s try a game. How many Christmas clichés can you count?

Christopher Byrne, aka Christy – Widower. Christmas tree farmer. Canadian. Travels to New York City with his children every December to sell trees in Chelsea. Expects his son will take over the Christmas tree farm someday. Engaged in a domestic disturbance fight with his son last Christmas.

Danny Byrne – Christy’s son. Wants to become a weatherman. Does not want to take over the Christmas tree farm. Teenage runaway who has been living on the streets of New York City since last Christmas.

Bridget Byrne – Christy’s daughter. Danny’s kid sister. Misses Danny. Desperately.

Catherine Tierney – New Yorker. Widow. Husband died three Christmases ago. Dresses in black. Librarian for a private family library. Hoping to see her dead husband’s ghost. Living in the past. Doesn’t go to church anymore.

Brian Tierney – MIA ghost. Dead husband. Touched by an angel.

Lizzie – New Yorker. Last name forgotten. Catherine’s best friend. Feeds the homeless. Goes to church. Artistic. Boutique owner. She knits. She embellishes/recycles items from a thrift store and sells them in her boutique. I’d probably get along with her.

Lucy – Lizzie’s young daughter. Helps her mom feed the homeless. Knits scarves with her mom.

Officer Rip Collins – Member of NYPD's finest. Arrested Christy last Christmas for beating up Danny. Dropped charges and becomes Christy’s quasi-friend/contact in the search for Danny the runaway.

Sylvester Rheinbeck Sr. – Catherine’s doddering old man boss. Ultra-wealthy. Former captain of industry turned philanthropist/humanitarian.

Sylvester Rheinbeck Jr. – Head of Rheinbeck Corporation. Money-grubbing capitalist. Wishes his daddy would have hugged him more often when he was a young tot.

Overall, the book was okay. It was a fast read. Perfectly timed for the season. And it was heartwarming. But it was beyond cheesy and the coincidences made me roll my eyes. Each character was motivated by some Serious Issue and by the end; some other character came to the rescue and Saved the other. And on top of that, two new romances were formed by the end of the book. I'm not a big fan of chick lit, which may explain the 2 stars rather than 3, because the book didn't quite live up to my expectations, which seems to be the story of my life where chick lit is concerned.

[Jaycee Limutau · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book could have been so much better. I just felt like the author (whom I do love) left out the heart in this book....it was almost there at times but the characters still left me flat. Maybe it was just me? This book was turned into a Hallmark movie so maybe my expectations were too high but the relationships felt forced
and unrealistic (and that's from someone who enjoys fantasy, especially in love). And by the end I was bothered by how it was all wrapped up. No full answers to what the heck all the drama was really for!
It did have a good theme of Christmas and looking around you etc. & a some goose bump kissing moments (PG) and for that I've given it three stars instead of two.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

had a hard time getting used to Christy as a man's name.

[Mj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read Luanne Rice before and think she writes well. She’s an author I sometimes choose when looking for a heart warming read with interesting characters and some complexity. There’s often some romance involved but it’s definitely not Harlequinesque and doesn’t include any heavy duty love scenes, neither of which are my cup of tea. Rice focuses more on peoples’ inter relationships in her stories.

When looking through holiday reads on display at the library, I saw Silver Bells and thought I’d give it a try. During this time of year I look for warm and fuzzy stories and it is the one time of year when I’m not looking for realism or plausibility but rather light, happy reads with tied up in a bow endings.

Silver Bells delivered and despite being only 200 pages, it really tugged at my heart strings. There was some mystery thrown in as well, a genre that I enjoy along with some family dynamics, friendships, magic and romance.

As usual Luanne Rice did a good job of developing all her characters. I thought her plot development wasn’t bad either. Besides the romance, there was a mystery woven throughout the book which was an added bonus.

All in all, I really “felt” along with all the characters – the widow, widower, the widower’s children and others. Many were full of feelings and love for each other but also poor at communication or expressing their feelings and fears. I also empathized with the other issues and difficulties that some of the characters grappled with such as moving on, adapting to change and trying new things. I could really understand the son’s desire to move to a big city away from the rural roots he’d grown up with but also understood his father’s fear and wish to keep his family together where they had grown up.

Silver Bells has characters who seem very real and with whom I easily connected. It was a tear jerker and all the pieces of the puzzle came together for an excellent holiday read. 4 stars.

[Christine Mathieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Christmas stories (the TV movie with Anne Heche is also worth watching).
Year after year in December a small family from Nova Scotia drives to NYC with Christmas trees to sell. The son wants to become a photographer, but his father wants him to take over the family business.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old favorite at Christmas. Love the background story of missing what is right in front of you. Take the time to look up!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this sweet holiday story.

[SandyL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher "Christy" Byrne is a tree farmer from Nova Scotia, who travels to NYC every year to sell his trees. His wife died four years ago and he'd been raising his son and daughter and trying to keep the business on track. Then, the previous year, his son ran away right before they were to return to Nova Scotia. Now he and his daughter are back to sell trees and are hoping to find Danny. Catherine Tierney's husband died three years ago right before Christmas and it's always the toughest time of the year for her. She witnessed the fight between Danny and his father before he ran off, and has been helping him out the past year. And she hopes that the two will reconcile now that Christy is back in town.

This was a heartwarming, but also often sad, tale of grief and family. For the first half of the story I kept feeling I had read it before - I'm still not sure if I did and forgot the ending, or if I've read something similar in the past. The one thing I wasn't crazy about was the many POV's - too many characters had their hands in this pie. But overall it was a touching Christmas story.

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a book that became a Hallmark Movie, the romance in this was incredibly lacking. The main characters were not relatable at all, and I found myself hating them both more and more throughout the book. Catherine is sad, that's her personality. Christy (that's his name) is looking for his son, that's his personality. Christy is just a horrible parent in general, which makes supporting his motivation to find his son very difficult as a reader. These one-note characters were the worst part of the book, not to mention the fruitless plot and "conflict". As with many Hallmark stories, the ending of this book was dissatisfying and didn't solve any of the problems created in the last few chapters. The main characters both expressed that they didn't want to live where the other does and that was the end of the conversation. How ridiculous. It is so disappointing to me that I've read a number of books that would make great movies, yet somehow that never happens. And also how the books that are made into movies are just awful like this book and After by Anna Todd.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the book and movie

[Connie N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot less appealing than I had expected. Yes, the characters are nice. Christy is the guy who comes down from Nova Scotia every year to sell his Christmas trees in NYC. He's become a fixture on his corner until one year when he and his teenaged son get into a fight and Danny runs away. Catherine is a local librarian who has lost her husband and isn't able to get over it. She befriends Danny and helps him by giving him food and an occasional job. When Christy comes again in December, she wants to help their family, but she's still caught up in her own grief. I wasn't crazy about the angel and "a sign" stuff from her husband. I know it was supposed to be magical, but it mostly just seemed cheesy, and I couldn't suspend reality enough to believe in the miracle. The warmth and possibilities between Christy and Catherine were nice, though. And I particularly liked the "Look Up" project that Catherine's boss was promoting, providing photos of obscure items in the city for people to search for. A nice Christmas story, but it was a bit disappointing.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blech. Where to start? If you are going to write a story involving police, learn the rudimentaries of police procedure. For instance, if someone reports spotting a runaway, you don't send several cars with sirens blaring to apprehend him.
The characters were flat, I couldn't relate to any of them. The storyline was fuzzy at best. Waste of time.

[Jeannette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little too predictable and fluffy for me. As the book went on, it got pretty silly and sappy for my tastes. Not my reading style at all but more of a Harlequin Romance type of genre. On to the next…

[Kay Cardona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read. It shows the importance of values .

[C.J. Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming Christmas story.

[Marie Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book,it was a quick read. I didn’t care for how it didn’t include the outcome with Danny & his girlfriend

[Karli Herder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read for the holiday season

[Alexandria Uerling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing earth shattering, but an easy, quick, light hearted read for the holidays.

[Madeleine Corfier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine schöne kurzweilige Geschichte & man fühlt sich mitten drin im weihnachtlichen New York…

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and sappy with a touch of holiday magic--would be a great Hallmark movie. But I liked it a lot!

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es war ok.

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

what can one say about Christmas novels? I am going thru a phase of not being much interested in reading, which is so not like me, but when I do, I am gravitating toward "fluff" and there hasn't been a Christmas book yet that wasn't fluff. To me the two main characters are Christy and Catherine, a widow and a widower, one forced to move on because of his children and his forever working and the other stuck in her grief waiting for her husband to come back, a declaration he made on his death bed. Christy's oldest son plays a major part in getting these two together. Some of it is over the top hokey, but what christmas book isnt? That's the joy of these kinds of books. The tragic stories, the beautiful everything comes together climax and the aftermath of that, which is always good.

[Miss Framboesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talvez influenciada pela época natalícia que coincide com o cenário do livro...adorei a história,as personagens,o cenário...fim previsível,mas não consegui parar de ler.Não leva mais uma estrela devido a uma passagem que achei forçada e. à qual não me refiro devido a spoilers...de resto encheu-me as medidas.

[Donald Krage]

I don't know how to rate this book I could not get past the first two pages of the Way She Wrote This Book she talks about the Christmas trees growing and then she talks about this guy named Christopher who literally gets too big for his family to feed and it was just really strange I cannot read the rest of the book I'm sorry

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story! Though I did have a little problem with her "angel" husband helping her when she went to church instead of her praying to God and it strengthening her faith in him. I guess I'm a little nit-picky. ;)

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has an old-timey/fairy tale quality about it. If you like a somber story about overcoming grief, witnessing miracles and talking to angels, as well as a small, though not explicit HEA, this one is well written and made for you.

[Ayny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now one of my favourite holiday books. hokey yes, but I like the NYC locale

[Lori Brockelbank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silver bells is very well written but it is too predictable and more sugary sweet than a tub of frosting. If you need a quick read then this is the book for you.

[Melissa (Always Behind) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Ok Christmas tale about a man whose son runs away and his quest to find him.