The Hundred-Year Christmas

by David Morrell
96 pgs

I hadn't decided on a Christmas book to read this year until I learned about this old book written by David Morrell. It's a short novella, and nothing like the thrillers he usually writes, but it's heart-warming and equally appealing to adults and children. I read it to my seven-year-old son, and we both enjoyed it.

 Every hundred years, a new Santa is chosen. The old one selects his replacement during his hundredth year, and on that Christmas Eve, leaves this world by climbing and disappearing over a snowy hilltop by his home.

Every New Year's Eve, a new Father Time is born. He ages eight years every month, and on the very next New Year's Eve, he also climbs and disappears over that same snowy hilltop.

The Hundred-Year Christmas takes place during the current Santa's one hundredth year. He has a year to select his replacement before his time is up, but finding someone willing to serve in the iconic role is proving to be extremely difficult. But the search for his replacement isn't really the story Morrell is telling. The real story of the book is the relationship between the two men. One that lives his whole life in a year's time, and the other that watches those hundred lifetimes knowing the exact moment his own life will end.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆