In The Christmas Letters, three generations of women reveal their
stories of love and marriage in the letters they write to family and
friends during the holidays. It's a down-home Christmas story about
tradition, family, and the shared experiences of women.
Here, in a letter of her own, Lee Smith explains how she was inspired to
write this celebrated epistolary novel:
Dear Friends,
Like me, you probably get Christmas letters every year. I read every
word and save every letter. Because every Christmas letter is the story
of a life, and what story can be more interesting than the story of our
lives? Often, it is the story of an entire family. But you also have to
read between the lines with Christmas letters. Sometimes, what is not
said is even more important than what is on the page.
In The Christmas Letters, I have used this familiar format to illumine
the lives, hopes, dreams, and disappointments of three generations of
American women. Much of the story of The Christmas Letters is also
told through shared recipes. As Mary, my favorite character, says, "I
feel as if I have written out my life story in recipes! The Cool Whip
and mushroom soup years, the hibachi and fondue period, then the quiche
and crepes phase, and now it's these salsa years."
I wrote this little book for the same reason I write to my friends and
relatives every holiday--Christmas letters give us a chance to remember
and celebrate who we are.
With warmest greetings, Lee Smith
