Winter Sky: Stories for the Season

Oh, Christmas. We remember what we had. Who we’ve lost. How we ache. We remember disasters and triumphs and the deepest, sweetest friends, telling the hardest truths.

From celebrated filmmaker, actor, and novelist Shelley Thompson comes a collection of stories, both cherished and fresh as new-fallen snow. A blend of historical and contemporary, written in breathtaking prose, the stories in Winter Sky reflect the season’s contrasts: the light and the dark, the complexity and the comfort.

In “The Compass,” a chance encounter on a bus during a winter storm leads to the unravelling of a family mystery decades old. In “The Goat’s Christmas Carol,” an unexpected trio of carollers visits the home of a sick child on Christmas Eve, bringing not gold, frankincense, and myrrh but gifts of song, community, and a future. In “Winter Sky,” the constellations provide company, and inspiration, for a young prairie boy on his early-morning walks to school. In “The Thing of It Is,” a couple’s never-ending home renovation binds them to a carpenter whose wisdom lies in recognizing what the heart needs to build comfort and joy.

Just like the season itself, these stories bring heartache and delight, and the wonder of gazing up at a winter’s sky.