The Christmas Orphans Club

Freeman’s compassionate if rocky debut digs into the heart of what makes holidays special: the people they’re spent with. Hannah and Finn’s college acquaintanceship becomes a best friendship when both are stuck on campus over the holidays. Hannah’s an orphan and Finn’s family disowned him after he came out as gay, so neither has anywhere else to go—but they make things merry by dressing up in costumes from the drama department and holding a pancake feast. Christmas together becomes a tradition, and the festivities only get more elaborate when they add Hannah’s N.Y.C. roommate, Priya, and Theo, Finn’s onetime Christmas Eve hookup turned good friend, to the mix. This year, however, Finn drops a bombshell: he’s moving cross-country for work. Hannah is devastated but determined to make this last Christmas one to remember. But with Hannah’s boyfriend pressuring her to join his family for the holidays and Finn wrestling with whether to admit his lingering crush on Theo, it might be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Freeman doesn’t skimp on the yuletide atmosphere and puts a lot of care into her characters’ growing pains. The novel’s structure has some flaws, however, hopping back and forth between many different Christmases and thereby creating information gaps and telegraphing surprises. Still, Freeman’s take on how relationships evolve is full of feeling.Agent: Allison Hunter, Trellis Literary. (Sept.)