AN AVALON CHRISTMAS

Gee (The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society, 2013, etc.) returns to Avalon, Ill., population 4,000, for a dozen stories about holiday spirit and random acts of kindness.

These 12 relentlessly cheery tales create a portrait of a small town where good deeds are contagious, food is the bearer of cozy memories, and no one is reclusive or estranged for long. In “Lemon Creams,” Melvin O’Malley, a crotchety senior at Harmony Homes, resists the idea of Christmas until his neighbor suffers a fall. Then he suddenly realizes that, like his favorite childhood lemon creams, life may be bittersweet, but he can make it sweeter for others. In what becomes a recurring theme in these stories, a cynical Scrooge figure transforms into a jolly Santa. In “Gift Wrapped,” an undercover reporter finds that “the spirit of giving that crosses all faiths and customs” is thriving, even amid the town’s bustling, competitive consumerism. Townspeople abandon their grudges and petty squabbles and instead come together to make Avalon better. In “Room at the Tea Salon,” a newcomer proposes a crowdfunding solution to the independent bookstore’s financial woes. In these stories, nothing impedes a heartwarming conclusion—not poverty, loneliness, cancer, a sick child or a father serving overseas. As a result, many of the tidy, change-of-heart endings seem a bit sudden; could a bulimic really get over her food issues within a week? The collection seems to prioritize breadth over depth; characterization is particularly shallow, perhaps assuming that readers are already familiar with Avalon’s residents from previous books. Every wintry cliché is here: sledding, cocoa, carolers, ribbon-wrapped cookie stacks (like those featured in the impeccable cover image), the last line of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” and even a character named Virginia who stubbornly believes in Christmas miracles. Yet the Dickensian echoes are subtle and pleasant, including an unexpected inheritance and anonymous benefactors donating free turkeys and a year’s worth of mortgage payments. Fans of women’s food-and-crafting fiction will relish these stories. After all, their “pay it forward” message is appropriate any time of year. (Two more seasonal offerings are planned: An Avalon Valentine and An Avalon Summer.)

Only the most hardened Scrooge could completely resist this collection of yuletide confections.