The Christmas Box

The Christmas Box is a holiday-themed, loosely autobiographical novel written by American author Richard Paul Evans. It tells the story of Richard, a workaholic who learns important lessons about the meaning of Christmas and the importance of family. He makes these discoveries with the help of an elderly widow and an angelic form who visits Richard in his dreams. A 31-year-old advertising executive at the time of the book’s original 1993 publication, Evans had no formal writing experience when he self-published The Christmas Box, and had simply written it to express his love for his daughters. Since that time, the novel has been re-released to become the first book ever to debut at number one on the New York Times best seller list in both hardcover and paperback editions the same week. Over the past twenty-five years, Evans has written thirty-one other best-selling books, in addition to The Christmas Box.

The book is divided into six chapters and an epilogue. The first chapter is called, “The Widow’s Mansion.” In it, a young couple named Richard and Keri, along with their baby daughter Jenna, move into the home of an elderly widow named MaryAnne Parkin. They will serve as the woman’s caretaker, cook, and cleaning service in return for free room and board. This is a perfect temporary solution while the tuxedo rental store that Richard runs continues to grow.

The second chapter is simply called “The Christmas Box,” just like the title of the book. One day, Richard and Keri’s brother, Barry, are in the attic of the huge old mansion and discover an intricately designed old Christmas Box. The narrator describes the box, thusly: “Burled walnut, intricately carved and highly polished. The box is about ten inches wide, fourteen inches long, and a half foot deep, large enough for a sheet of stationery to lie flat inside."



In the third chapter, titled “The Bible Box,” Richard is finally able to take a break from work and eat with his wife, his child, and Mary, but only because it’s Sunday after church. According to the original agreement, the family would eat meals separately from Mary. But that changes as the bond grows between Keri and Mary, and as Richard feels obligated to work late every night to keep his business and therefore his family afloat. Over dinner, Richard brings up the various collectibles in the attic. Mary mentions one of her late husband’s favorite collections: a box of rare Bibles. She sold most of them after his death but kept a few of his favorites, including one where the seventh commandment reads, “Thou shalt commit adultery” as opposed to “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (It’s not that Mary is some adultery enthusiast; rather she just finds the error amusing).

Chapter 4 is titled, “The Dream, the Angel, and the Letter.” Even before moving into Mary’s mansion, the stress of overworking seems to be affecting Richard’s sleep. That said, the recurring dream Richard keeps experiencing has become clearer and more vivid since the family’s relocation. The dream starts and Richard is alone in a vast field, with no end but the horizon in any direction. Suddenly, Richard is no longer alone. There is an angel with him, but every time he tries to look at her face, the angel turns to stone. In the middle of the night, still reeling and uneasy from yet another recurring angel dream, Richard hears music coming from the attic and, specifically, from the Christmas Box. Richard’s curiosity, combined with his increasing need to understand the recurring dream, encourages him to open the box. Inside he finds love letters written by Mary, but he doesn’t know the name to whom she’s addressing the letters.

Meanwhile, Mary has become fixated on Richard’s work schedule. She’s also been crying a lot, which Keri finds proof of when she opens an especially beautiful Bible from Mary’s late husband’s collection and finds the pages are soaked in tears. Before long, the truth comes out: Mary has an inoperable tumor that is putting pressure on her brain, and she likely has little time left on this planet.



In Chapter 5, titled “The Stone Angel,” Richard brings the love letters to Mary’s neighbor, Steve. Steve obliquely explains that while it is a love letter, the intended recipient is not a “lover,” so to speak.

In Chapter 6, “The Angel,” it is revealed that Mary’s daughter, Andrea, is the recipient of the letters. Andrea died when she was still just a child, and she is also the angel from Richard’s dreams. Mary’s fixations, and her encouragement toward Richard to examine the Christmas Box, are all part of a plan to convince Richard to spend less time at work and more time with his daughter, Jenna, because Mary herself regrets not spending more time with Andrea and taking her for granted.

In the epilogue, Mary dies on Christmas morning.



Though somewhat contrived in its plotting, The Christmas Box relays an important message about family that any parent would do well to heed, whether on the holidays or all year round.