Luke Swanson’s Curtains on A Christmas Carol subverts common holiday tropes in winter media to create a unique and flavorful mystery inside a local theater.
The novel centers around Teena Fazari, a passive and shy teacher often uncomfortable in her own skin, who becomes involved in theater to push herself outside of her own comfort zone. During her seventh production of the local holiday theatrical performance, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Teena discovers a nefarious plot to murder Percival Jennings, a heavily-disliked elderly man with a penchant for cruelty, during the final scene of the show. With a man’s life on the line and the final bows quickly approaching, Teena must conquer her fears and find the potential murderer or it will be curtains for Percival and the production she desperately loves.
Teena is a protagonist who is fun to root for and easy for readers to invest in as she works to solve the mystery and conquer her own anxieties. Her character is one example of many unique aspects of the story, as she provides a human element and narration to the murder plot. She may not be like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poiroit, but ultimately, she learns she does not need to be. Instead, she gains the confidence to rely on herself, her own intellect and the assertiveness to pursue the potential murderer in stride.
Just as Teena is easy to like, Percival Jennings is easy to hate, making him a fun and entertaining character to read about alongside the protagonist. As Teena begins to dig further into his life, it becomes easy for the audience to question why he is worth saving, which sets him apart as a compelling and unique potential murder victim. His flaws ultimately pull the story together and highlight Teena’s kindness and compassion, serving as a perfect foil to her character and avenue to explore moral complexity within the text. Percival is a real life Scrooge, just like the character he plays in the production.
Another entertaining element within the book is the parallels between Dickens’ beloved novel and the story itself. Dialogue within scenes of the play perfectly match up, providing a cohesive framework that compliments the mystery plot and adds a sense of foreboding urgency and tension—especially in scenes where Teena attempts to communicate to Percival the grave danger he is in.
Ultimately, Curtains On A Christmas Carol is an engaging, family-friendly read which provides several examples of well-done character development, suspenseful scenes and witty, entertaining dialogue. While it is a holiday novel, instead of being cheesy or ‘beaten to death’ like other holiday media (such as Hallmark movies), this story is fresh, new and the perfect addition to any reader’s library.
Curtains on a Christmas Carol can be purchased at Target, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other book store locations.
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