Thursday 17 November 2011

Books Read: Ali Harris - Miracle on Regent Street

Source - Bought (Amazon)

Dreams can come true... it could happen to you.

For the past two years, Evie Taylor has lived an invisible existence in London, a city she hoped would bring sparkle to her life.  But winter has brought a flurry of snow and unexpected possibilities.

Hidden away in the basement of Hardy's - once London's most elegant department store - Evie manages the stockroom of a shop whose glory days have long since passed.

When Evie overhears that Hardy's is at risk of being sold, she secretly hatches a plan.  If she can reverse the store's fortunes by December 26th - three weeks away - and transform it into a magical destination once again, she might just be able to save it.  But she's going to need every ounce of talent and determination she has.  In fact, she's going to need a miracle.


The main character in the book is Evie, although everyone calls her Sarah - the previous stockroom girl's name - as no-one has really gotten to know her apart from a few, Sam the delivery guy, Felix the security guard and Lily in the tearoom.

Whilst going about her job silently, Evie overhears the manager Rupert say that the store will close unless fortunes turnaround.  This is devastating news for Evie as she has loved the store since she first came to it as a child but it has seen a decline in trade in recent times.

So starts the countdown to Christmas and Evie's attempt to turn around business at the store.  Getting inspiration from old stock she finds in the stockroom she comes up with an idea to transform the departments with memories of days gone by.  Initially on her own, and then with a few eager volunteers, she starts to transform the displays in each department which results in a sharp increase in trade.  But everyone wants to know who is the elf behind these transformations but no-one suspects that it is Evie.

Alongside the storylines of the stores transformation, you also get to read about her complicated relationships - with her sister Delilah and her family, her parents and her new romance with American Joel who thinks she is assistant manager Carly!  But is Evie the only one who is pretending to be someone they're not?

This is a brilliant debut novel and I would definitely recommend it as one of your Christmas reads in the run up to Christmas.

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