IT'S A FABULOUS LIFE

A Sapphic romance remake of It’s a Wonderful Life.

After years of deferring her dream of living in the big city, Bailey George is tired of managing her small town’s Christmas fest, not to mention shouldering her family’s realty business. Just as she's on the verge of escaping, the festival’s new planner has an emergency and Bailey must step up again. One person who seems delighted that she’s there is Maria Hatcher, Bailey’s teen crush who has just moved back to become the town librarian. Though their attraction reignites, Bailey is determined to leave. Meanwhile, a trio of drag queens is watching, with Clara Angel determined to spin some (real) Christmas magic and remind Bailey of what she loves about her town and community. Her mission is also in service of earning the wings for her drag costume. The author updates the classic Capra movie for a modern audience, with a female/female second-chance Christmas romance and several queer characters who have supportive allies. Assorted cutesy elements abound: goofy dogs, descriptions of holiday traditions and local dynamics, a Grinch-like villain who comes around at the end. The frame of the original story is not comfortable, however, with Bailey’s sacrifices and discontent taking up most of the narrative. Its echoes linger in the reader’s mind even after the happy resolution, when Clara forces Bailey to remember her love for their hometown.

For fans of chaste Christmas romances and narratives that glorify small-town America.