Introduction

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Kristin Hannah is beloved by readers around the world for her unique blend of powerful emotion and exquisite storytelling. In Comfort & Joy, she offers a modern-day fairy tale—the story of a woman who gets a miraculous chance at happiness.

Joy Candellaro once loved Christmas more than any other time of the year. Now, as the holiday approaches, she is at a crossroads in her life; recently divorced and alone, she can’t summon the old enthusiasm for celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a ticket and boards a plane bound for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. When an unexpected detour takes her deep into the woods of the Olympic rainforest, Joy makes a bold decision to leave her ordinary life behind—to just walk away—and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

In the small town of Rain Valley, six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without a mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world, talking only to his invisible best friend. His father Daniel is beside himself, desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, these two unlikely souls form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.

But not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart, and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist, and go in search of what she wants . . . and the new life only she can find.

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Discussion Questions

1. We first meet Joy at an absolute low point. Her sister, Stacey, had an affair with Joy’s husband Thom and now she’s pregnant and they’re getting married. Joy is all alone. Let’s talk about where Joy was emotionally at the beginning of the novel.
2. Joy, on an impulse buy, books a flight to Hope, Canada hoping to fly far, far away from her problems. But on the journey, the flight crashes. While she survives, she walks away instead of staying behind with the crash site. Why did Joy leave?
3. She eventually meets Bobby, who had just lost his mother. Why do you think Joy felt the need to help Bobby overcome his grief?
4. What was your impression of Daniel?
5. When did you start to suspect that all wasn’t what it seemed with Joy’s visit to Rain Valley and her relationship with Bobby and Daniel? Or were you surprised at the twist that Joy was in the hospital this entire time?
6. Why was Bobby the only one who could see Joy?
7. Joy is convinced that her visit to Rain Valley and her experiences with Bobby and Daniel were real. As Joy tries to prove it, did you believe she somehow went there or did you think it was something she imagined while being in the coma?
8. What did this experience teach Joy about forgiveness when it comes to Stacey? Would you have accepted Stacey back in your life or would you have continued to stay angry at her?
9. Joy sells her house and decides to find out if Rain Valley and Bobby and Daniel were real all along. What did you think about the ending where Joy finally finds them and is reunited?
10. This book is positioned as a modern-day fairy tale—do you agree with that? What message do you think the book is trying to send?
11. How does this book rank in terms of other holiday books you’ve read?
12. If they turned this into a film or TV series, who should play the main roles?

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