*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Blurb: Yes! Old Scrooge is DEAD, to begin with…
In this romance sequel to Charles Dickens beloved classic, A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge dies suddenly just days before Christmas. Tiny Tim, now a young man who lost his sweetheart love, Becky, battles anger and lost faith with the new loss of his best friend. Scrooge’s ghost returns to teach Tim a much needed lesson about faith… and the real meaning of Christmas!
Scrooge has certainly changed a lot since Dickens’ original tale; as well as being dead, that is!
Norman Whaler gives us an insight, in this short novella, into the fate of the A Christmas Carol after Scrooge had his change of heart and Tiny Tim blessed us, every one.
This story mirrors the setup of the original, with a ghost visiting three times on Christmas Eve, with the twist that this time the ghost is Scrooge, visiting No-Longer-Tiny Tim, who is in need of his own miraculous change of heart.
However whilst Scrooge needed a personality change from his long-nursed bitterness and spite, Tim is suffering from what appears to be serious depression along with a crisis of faith.
Similarly, while Dickens filtered his moral lessons through the lens of a time-travelling ghost story, with some history and a few scares, Whaler adheres more rigidly to the Christian message and his Scrooge preaches directly to Tim about the Christian faith and God’s message, even as he shows him some insights into his life (Scrooge’s life, for the most part, not Tim’s suprisingly!)
Therefore I would generally recommend this as a nice romantic stocking filler for those who hold strong Christian religious beliefs, but feel the message may be a little strong and direct for those who prefer their moral tales to be a little more diluted.
“Tim, listen to me. Try to understand. Faith isn’t about the belief that He will fix everything when things go wrong because you have been a good person. That isn’t how it works. True faith is trusting Him even when you don’t understand the why of things that happen to good people. It is one of the hardest things we are asked to do. Perhaps, the hardest. Our faith is especially tested at those times that are the bleakest in our lives and nothing seems to make sense. But in this, we are not choiceless, and we are not alone.
“You can choose to trust Him even when you don’t understand and choose to be content because you trust Him with your life in His hands. God has a plan for you, for all people, for He has proclaimed to us, “Be still, and know that I am GOD.””– Norman Whaler, Tiny Tim and the Ghost of Ebeneezer Scrooge
Find more from Norman Whaler at his website here or follow him on Goodreads and Facebook.
Tiny Tim and the Ghost of Ebeneezer Scrooge is available on Amazon right now.
Bookshine And Readbows 