It’s not that I’m looking for feel-good books for the Christmas season, but this I bumped up The Blessed Child in the TBR stack because: 1) it’s a physical book and 2) I wanted to read it before I finished all the teas in the Quaintly & Co. Tea and Book Box. And also because I just finished An Illustrated Modern Reader of The Classic of Tea and really wanted something different.

The Blessed Child is historical fiction centered around Wednesday Carson, also known as Nessie Carson. After her mother is brutally murdered, she and her brother Reuben try to keep the family going despite a spoiled younger sister (Marcie) and sickly younger brother (Joseph). The blurb for the book I have mentions the handsome young doctor Oliver but really, their fortunes only begin to change when they get jobs with the local undertaker, Andre.

As a pretty straightforward rags-to-riches story, The Blessed Child is a quick and fun read. I found myself rooting for Nessie and it was nice to read how she was slowly making her way into a place of security, without forgetting those that she knew as well.

While this story is great for the holiday spirit, it’s not without its flaws. The two biggest ones for me were the quick changes in POV and the fact that Nessie is almost a Mary-Sue.

The Blessed Child uses an omniscient third person POV, which lets it see the thoughts of all the characters. At the start of the book, however, it felt a little bit like head hopping and I wasn’t quite sure whose POV I was supposed to be in. I think this is an intentional narrative device, since it does help to heighten tension with regards to some of the dangers Nessie faces early on, but it did take some time to get used to.

The other issue was slightly harder to get over because Mary Sues annoy me. At the very start of the book, we have a character describe Nessie as not conventionally pretty but actually really beautiful (and this beauty is remarked upon throughout the book). Nessie is also very kind and has a good business sense, and apart from being a little short-tempered with her spoiled sister, doesn’t seem to have any flaws. Thankfully, what saves the book from becoming too saccharin is the fact that Nessie does go through some pretty difficult times. In the overall scheme of things, she’s more of a Sara Crewe than Cedric Errol, which makes her easier to root for.

Overall, The Blessed Child works pretty well as a piece of feel-good holiday fiction. I started off rather unsure of whether I would like the book because of the two problems mentioned, but I ended up finishing it within a day, showing that yes, I am actually a softy and love reading these triumphant stories.

Featured Image: Photo from Canva