Pulling up floors and replacing shutters, Alexis Blake sets out to restore a home for a chance to land her own show on the Heart and Home Channel. In just eight weeks. Standing in her way is an aging homeowner hampered by self-doubt and hidden fears and a quirky videographer who has a point to prove. With characters emotionally limping through the Christmas season, Cynthia Ruchti’s new novel sets out to do just what the title suggests. She weaves through the character’s lives with light-hearted holiday humor and a graceful yuletide thread, all in the hope of Restoring Christmas (9781617957079, October 2016).
“Though Christmas is a cherished, happy time of year for many, it is not synonymous with joy for some,” says Ruchti. “Loss, longing, and life’s disappointments sometimes put a spotlight on aches and brokenness rather than on the history and richness of memories.” Ruchti undertakes this project with sympathy and compassion, making a case for not only the value, but power of the Christmas season. “God is in the business of restoring, reclaiming, refurbishing, and renewing,” she says. “Christmas is evidence of that.”
Ruchti’s novel is about renovating both home and heart. God brings life, and in his life, renewal. To read Restoring Christmas is inevitably to read a story of divine restoration.