How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

This was one of the most interesting books I've read. Makes you appreciate the Christmas holiday.

I love this book. It was great to get some historical facts in with fiction. I am not an active reader and this one kept me interested to the end

In this sequel to his classic book The Autobiography of Santa Claus, Jeff Guinn tells a new tale of Christmas in peril. In the first book, Guinn took the historical facts about St. Nicholas and the various people who contributed to the Santa Claus legend around the world and wove them into a beautiful life story. In this book, he continued that tradition, taking the troubles of the English Civil War as a backdrop for a tale about Santa's wife, Layla. Staying behind in England to manage their affairs there while her husband begins his time in the American colonies, Layla finds herself at the forefront of a movement to protect Christmas from a Puritan reformation that wants to stomp out anything reminiscent of Catholicism in England. Layla is forced to flee to Canterbury, where she lives for a time with friends Alan and Elizabeth Hayes and their daughter Sara. As Oliver Cromwell amasses power in London, Layla and her friends concoct a daring plan to show Parliament that the people of England will never stand for Christmas being stolen from them. Like The Autobiography of Santa Claus, this is a beautiful story that weaves together fact with fantasy to produce a thoroughly satisfying tale. In fact, this may even be a superior book to the original, in that it has a much more cohesive story. By necessity, Autobiography reads like a person's life story, hitting the high points but not really holding onto a compelling narrative thread to push the plot along. This new book is focused on a relatively brief period of time instead of the thousands of years in the first book, and on a single issue -- the attempt by the Puritans to squelch out Christmas in the 1640s. As such, it's a much stronger book simply from a storytelling standpoint. Like the original, this book is written in 24 chapters -- making it quite convenient for parents to read a chapter a day to the little ones in December, finishing up on Christmas Eve. I don't have any kids myself yet, but I have every intention of doing this once I do. I also just found out that Guinn has produced a third book, The Great Santa Search, and I'll definitely be rushing out to get my copy before the holidays are over.

The year is 1620. While Santa Claus is off in the New World aka America, getting a new group of people interested in the spirit of giving, and what is now known as Christmas, Mrs. Claus has been left behind in England. It's a lovely country, but when signs of officials banning all types of Yuletide cheer begin popping up everywhere Mrs. Claus looks, she realizes that it's time to take matters into her own hands. It's bad enough that the Puritans have gained complete control of Parliament, but when, in the year 1647 a law punishing any and all who celebrate Christmas is passed, Mrs. Claus realizes that Christmas is in true danger, and it's up to her, without the help of her beloved Saint Nick, to save the marvelous holiday before it's destroyed forever. I read Jeff Guinn's THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SANTA CLAUS when it was first released, and devoured every word of it. Yet I had no idea he would be able to weave the exact same sort of magic with its sequel HOW MRS. CLAUS SAVED CHRISTMAS. As with the first installment in the Christmas Chronicles, Guinn has put together a delightful holiday fiction tale, and laced it with rich historical facts - including the marching of ten thousand peasants in Canterbury who protested their right to celebrate Christmas in the year 1647. A charming piece of fiction that will certainly delight and educate all! Erika Sorocco

I adored this book! I thought at first that this book would pick up where the last left off, but instead it focuses on Layla's battle to restore Christmas to England in the 1600's. The story was extremely engrossing, and very sweet and even a little sad. I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year, and this was just the push I needed!

If you liked Guinn's autobiography of Santa Claus you will love this book. The story moves smoothly through the ages and has many links to history that, with a little imagination, you can find believable. The characters are delightful, making it a joyous holiday read. This one is a keeper--it won't go off to the half-price store at the end of the year!