Emily Janice Card (a.k.a. Emily Rankin) is an actor, writer, and singer. In addition to being a narrator, she has directed numerous audiobooks, including the 2007 Audie and Earphones Award winner Hubris, Legacy of Ashes by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Weiner, and Them by Nathan McCall. Her own audiobook narration has won her four Earphones Awards.
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Praise for Books
“Zanna’s Gift is a Christmas message for our time: a wise and poignant tale of love and faith.” —Sharyn McCrumb, New York Times bestselling author
“There is nowhere better to spend Christmas than in the western North Carolina mountains, and Orson Scott Card is the perfect storyteller to take you there.” —Sharyn McCrumb, New York Times bestselling author of The Unquiet Grave
“In the tradition of Richard Paul Evans’s The Christmas Box and The Locket, [Card’s] sure-to-be-classic tale is highly recommended for the Christmas season and all year round.” —Library Journal
“The scientific method collides with southern small-town culture and a local mystery in Orson Scott Card’s charming and insightful novella A Town Divided by Christmas…The witty banter and humorous commentary make the leisurely journey a delight…A Town Divided by Christmas (originally passed out by the Cards in 2017 as a Christmas gift) has a timely message for our world, where so much focus is given to the things that divide us.” —Fantasy Literature
“[An] incredibly touching Christmas story…Orson Scott Card has written a completely heartfelt family story…Heart-wrenching, heartwarming, and heartfelt, this book will remain my favorite Christmas story, and I highly recommend it.” —Escape through the Pages
“A timely message about what divides people today: science and religion, logic and emotion, and urban and rural…Card’s strength as an author is his use of dialog and the characters’ introspection to tell a story…Small-town politician and sheltered academic; reclusive, socially awkward, logic-driven geneticist and small-town girl just out of high school—what could they possibly have in common? Just the human heart it turns out.” —Mercury (Manhattan, KS)
“This is a hopeful story that will pull at your heartstrings…with the theme of family, hope, and love. Get the tissues ready to read this one.” —The Book Club Network Blog
“A Town Divided by Christmas is a short tale that repays thoughtful reading. The characters are varied and engaging. It works through complex human concerns to arrive at answers that surprise and entertain. It is a compelling Hallmark Christmas movie in prose. It is a parable for our times.” —Deseret News
“Card manages, in just 100 pages, to weave a story that is tender, touching, and loving—all of the things a Christmas story should be. With Zanna’s Gift, Card again has not only produced a story that will be read by young and old, he has given us all a Christmas present that will be cherished generationally, especially during the holidays.” —Mountain Times (Boone, NC)
“This being a Christmas novel, there is, of course, a chance of romance, for both Spunky and—surprisingly—Elyon. Elyon’s courtship, especially, yields quite a bit of humor. There is also the mystery surrounding the feud that split the town, and a good dose of Christmas spirit. Card doesn’t take himself or his Christmas story too seriously. More than once, there are humorous references to Hallmark Christmas movies, even as it’s obvious that the book would make a fine one. The story is sweet, but not syrupy, and quirky enough to be thoroughly entertaining even if (satisfyingly) predictable.” —Greensboro News and Record (North Carolina)
“Orson Scott Card brings whimsy to the forefront of his latest novel, A Town Divided by Christmas…One of Card’s strengths as a writer is his ability to take intelligent protagonists and make them not only relatable but also humorous through clever dialogue and introspection. From the first page, Spunk pulls readers into a world full of scientific questioning, but in a way that is interesting and compelling for readers of any background. Though the book is more like a novella…it moves swiftly through pages of genetic calculation and data collection through a plot that contains great character quips and quirks, making it feel like a fuller text than it is…A quick and fun read with substance that is certainly worth the while.” —San Francisco Book Review
When little Zanna’s oldest brother died just before Christmas, she was left with the gift she had made for him—a picture that only he would have understood. Every Christmas, Zanna’s gift is brought out and displayed as a way of including their lost brother in the celebration. This is the story of the life of that family, and of the many gifts they gave each other that could only be understood with love.
It began with a quarrel over which newborn should be the baby Jesus in the town’s Christmas pageant. Decades later, two scientists arrive to study small-town genetic patterns, only to run up against the invisible walls that split the leading citizens into two congregations that can only be joined by love and forgiveness. And maybe a little deception, because there might be some things that people just don’t need to know.
