One Christmas Eve, as Scrooge lays dying, Peter embarks on a risky ocean voyage that he believes will secure the future for his family. Onboard, Peter finds love, happiness, and success, only to lose it all by the voyage’s end.
Returning to London, Peter shuns his family and instead finds himself living on the streets, haunted by his failures and his dead lover, selling his body just to survive while he waits for the winter cold to claim him once and for all. But winter snows also mean Christmas is coming, and for the Cratchit family, Christmas is a time of miracles. Can a visit from three familiar spirits change Peter’s life again? Is there one more miracle in store for the lost son of one of Dickens’ most enduring families?
Drew Marvin Frayne did a cracker job of taking the threads of a Christmas Carol and reweaving them into Peter Cratchit’s tale. The story was familiar enough to fall into easily, but then took a hard left into something completely unique.
This is definitely not Scrooge’s story, but he does have a strong influence as a man who has redeemed himself and turned from a miserly man to an “uncle” and benefactor to not only his family, but the the Cratchit family as well. Under Scrooge’s tutelage, Peter has learned the mechanics of business and wants nothing more than to provide for his entire family.
Well, as we’ve all heard, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and Peter is basically made up of good intentions from stem to stern. And he has the kind of good intentions that are laced with a good dose of hubris that can only be afforded to the young. His drive to provide for his family sent him around the world, into the arms of a wonderful man and ultimately to heartbreak and ruin.
And while Peter Cratchit’s Christmas Carol does have an ‘epic journey’ type flavor, it’s ultimately a story about redemption. Peter has a comfortable life with a loving family, he wants to cement their future in comfort and along the way he negotiates all the wins and meets the love of his life. Through betrayal he loses everything, including himself. He blames himself, understandably so, even though that blame isn’t well placed. He’s given up and the description of his life on the streets is heartbreaking. He tells his story with a disconnected air and his voice makes his tale even more bleak and sad. Add to that, Peter is a bit of a fatalist in his views, so he has a lot to overcome and learn.
It wouldn’t be a Christmas Carol without ghosts who make it all worse though, so enter the ghosties! I liked reading his history through his visions and his Uncle Scrooge always told him he wasn’t seeing the nuances of what was in front of him, instead Peter saw what was happening literally and through the lens of a slightly self centered young man. That’s not a dig by any means, it’s just how the very young work (in general) and Peter had to fall and get the three part ghost tour to see that. Uncle Scrooge was a very wise man.
As the story progressed Peter learned that there was so much more to everything he assumed and the ghosts opened his eyes and reading Peter’s epiphany felt so good. There was an air of hope that grew as the story progressed, it was subtle, but it was there. There was still plenty of pain for Peter to go through, but the ghosts kept coming, and they showed him the good and the bad, reminiscent of his Uncle’s Christmas Carol, and we all know how that turned out. Good things were to come.
The resolution was perfect, satisfying but not so perfect that it cheapened the journey. Peter was made whole and he grew exponentially. The romance may not have been center stage as such, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a driving force for Peter. The resolution there was bittersweet, but oh so good at the same time. I do love the different takes on a Christmas Carol, from the classic, to the Muppets, to Bill Murray to Guy Pearce, but I have to say, Peter Cratchit’s is my new favorite.
**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**
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