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REVIEWING TODAY: A LONG WALK HOME – A CHRISTMAS NOVELETTE BY D.L. FINN
With thematic threads and certain plot elements reminiscent of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and the long holiday movie classic It’s A Wonderful Life, D.L. Finn’s short-short book A Long Walk Home offers a feel-good antidote to potential seasonal doldrums, as well as a cautionary tale about prematurely submitting to such lurking inclinations. Or, as the author slips smoothly into our thoughts: “For once, feeling sorry for herself had turned into a blessing.” Fortunately for the reader’s true enjoyment, Finn does not weigh her story down with presumptuously ponderous portents, nor with lightly flimsical whimsy. She just tells a very pleasing story with a very pleasing style, mindful of what makes good writing good, and a reader’s experience satisfying.
Kenzie is not in the mood for Christmas. Very quickly in A Long Walk Home, D.L. Finn fills us in on why this holiday season for this young woman is definitely headed for the doldrums. We are also quickly made aware of who is looking after making sure this does not happen. A conspiracy of angels, you might say. Some human; one for sure, not. To say more than this, however, would spoil the enjoyment of those hoping and expecting to witness Kenzie’s redemption. After all, Finn insures we feel compassion for her troubled character, and perhaps more than a smidgeon of self-identification. We might be hoping and expecting something in the same redemptive vein for ourselves. And this is the pleasure to be found from Ms. Finn’s Christmas novelette: In a short and pleasing, well written story, we rediscover the meaning of the Christmas spirit.
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Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite
