Care assistant Sophie loves the holidays, and nothing makes her feel more festive than helping 82-year-old resident Bea keep in touch with her old friend Greta. In their Christmas letters, the women update each other on their lives – Bea’s in the quiet residential home in London, Greta’s in the heart of Vienna and the grand Wynter Hotel.
But everything changes when Bea passes away before Sophie’s had a chance to post this year’s letter. Devastated, Sophie struggles to imagine this Christmas without her dear friend. But then Sophie finds one last note from Bea – and this time, it’s not addressed to Greta. It’s to Sophie, telling her to go to Austria.
Which is how Sophie finds herself in Vienna at Christmas, with the snow falling, and an important delivery to make… But when Sophie reaches the Wynter Hotel, there are surprises in store, and before she returns to England, her life will have changed in ways she could never have imagined…
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This is a tender, multi-generational tale that celebrates the enduring power of friendship, the lost art of letter-writing, and the quiet magic of human connection.
The story begins decades ago with Greta and Bea, two friends who left Vienna for England and began exchanging heartfelt letters — a tradition that grew into yearly “Christmas newsletter” updates. More than fifty years later, Greta is back in Vienna with her husband Walter, and Bea is in an English care home, yet their correspondence remains a lifeline for them both.
As age and failing eyesight make writing harder, others step in to help — Sophie, Bea’s devoted care home assistant who feels more like family, and in Vienna, Walter, their son Nick, and Jennie, a woman as close as an adopted daughter. When circumstances send Sophie to Vienna on Bea’s behalf, she discovers truths and connections that are both heartwarming and bittersweet. Greta and Bea’s lifelong friendship is portrayed with warmth and authenticity, and the relationships that branch from it — spanning generations and crossing countries — remind us how kindness can ripple outward, touching unexpected lives.
This is more than just a festive read; it’s a love letter to enduring bonds, old-fashioned correspondence, and the ways people can become each other’s chosen family.
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