Author: Julie Lipson
Narrator: Amanda Ronconi, Victor Bevine, Fred Berman, Elizabeth Jasicki, Eliza Foss, Kevin Pariseau, Angelo Di Loreto, Clara Francesca and Fulvio Della Volta
Publisher: Audible
Publication Date: November 2020
Genre: Christmas Holiday / Contemporary Romance
Buy The Book: Amazon| BN | Audible
Description: What makes for a wonderful life? On a crowded Christmas train from Milan to Paris, Amy, an American headed to meet her fiancé, and Martijn, a Finn headed anywhere but home, meet cute.
But when their train gets delayed in an Italian Alps hill town due to a snowstorm, they, along with a passel of fellow stranded passengers, find comfort and joy in a cozy inn, run by a wise Italian man who forces them to look at the holiday and each other in a whole new light.
My Thoughts: My 2022 Christmas reading begins with the very short and whimsical Snow Day by new to me author Julie Lipson. I chose this audiobook because traveling by train in Europe is one of my bucket list items and being delayed by snow in the Italian Alps on Christmas Eve sounds exciting.
This story centers on Amy, an American architect traveling from Milan to Paris to meet up with her fiancé and his mother and Martijn, a Finn who has the wanderlust bug with no real destination in mind. As we get to know these two strangers, we learn they have a lot more in common than what appears on the surface.
The story runs just under 1 hour and 15 minutes, so there isn’t a lot of time spent on the “getting to know you” phase of the relationship. As Amy and Martijn trudge around town hoping to find another means of transportation out, they get the opportunity to assess their lives and what’s important, rather than living according to the plans of others.
This story felt like a movie in my mind as there are multiple narrators and sound effects. The sounds of trains in the background and an Italian men’s choir singing Silent Night brings life to this story. All of the performances were wonderful with the accents of Martijn’s Finnish background, Englishwoman Delores and her child and the numerous Italians. Mixed in with the English language, are numerous Italian phrases. I was in audible heaven.
My Final Verdict: Overall, this was a delightful story, but I wish it had been a couple of hours longer to see what happens to Amy and Martijn after boarding the train to leave. I recommend this story to readers who like their time in the snow short but enjoy the quaintness of spending Christmas in a small village in the Italian Alps.
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