In Faith Moore’s “Christmas Karol,” a retelling of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” Karol Charles is a driven professional intent on raking in as much money as possible, ostensibly for the welfare of her family. The novel opens with Karol calling an emergency meeting of some of her law office staff on Christmas Eve, interrupting their holiday and neglecting the needs of her husband and two children.
As Karol’s Christmas ghosts of past, present, and future open her eyes to her sadly twisted priorities—she has also severely damaged her relationship with a beloved sister and grossly mistreated her secretary—she becomes a sort of mirror for readers, encouraging us to look in the glass and ask some questions. What do I value most in life? Do I judiciously order my priorities, balancing the obligations of work with attention given to family and friends? Do I keep the promises made to those I love?
