A Town Divided by Christmas

“The scientific method collides with southern small-town culture and a local mystery in Orson Scott Card’s charming and insightful novella A Town Divided by Christmas…The witty banter and humorous commentary make the leisurely journey a delight…A Town Divided by Christmas (originally passed out by the Cards in 2017 as a Christmas gift) has a timely message for our world, where so much focus is given to the things that divide us.”

“A timely message about what divides people today: science and religion, logic and emotion, and urban and rural…Card’s strength as an author is his use of dialog and the characters’ introspection to tell a story…Small-town politician and sheltered academic; reclusive, socially awkward, logic-driven geneticist and small-town girl just out of high school—what could they possibly have in common? Just the human heart it turns out.”

“There is nowhere better to spend Christmas than in the western North Carolina mountains, and Orson Scott Card is the perfect storyteller to take you there.”

“A Town Divided by Christmas is a short tale that repays thoughtful reading. The characters are varied and engaging. It works through complex human concerns to arrive at answers that surprise and entertain. It is a compelling Hallmark Christmas movie in prose. It is a parable for our times.”

“This being a Christmas novel, there is, of course, a chance of romance, for both Spunky and—surprisingly—Elyon. Elyon’s courtship, especially, yields quite a bit of humor. There is also the mystery surrounding the feud that split the town, and a good dose of Christmas spirit. Card doesn’t take himself or his Christmas story too seriously. More than once, there are humorous references to Hallmark Christmas movies, even as it’s obvious that the book would make a fine one. The story is sweet, but not syrupy, and quirky enough to be thoroughly entertaining even if (satisfyingly) predictable.”

“Orson Scott Card brings whimsy to the forefront of his latest novel, A Town Divided by Christmas…One of Card’s strengths as a writer is his ability to take intelligent protagonists and make them not only relatable but also humorous through clever dialogue and introspection. From the first page, Spunk pulls readers into a world full of scientific questioning, but in a way that is interesting and compelling for readers of any background. Though the book is more like a novella…it moves swiftly through pages of genetic calculation and data collection through a plot that contains great character quips and quirks, making it feel like a fuller text than it is…A quick and fun read with substance that is certainly worth the while.”