The Christmas Orphans Club

Description

From bookfluencer and host of the BAD ON PAPER podcast, a riotous holiday rom-com about four friends in NYC who hold onto their unconventional Christmas tradition even when their paths diverge—but the changes they fear might be exactly what they need…

Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah’s parents died, and Finn’s disowned him when he came out. Their tradition of offbeat holiday adventures only grows more outrageous with time. When the pair starts their adult lives in New York City, they add stylish Priya and mysterious Theo to the group, solidifying a found family and sense of belonging they’ve always craved.

But now, when Finn announces a move to L.A., this Christmas may be their last. Hannah is terrified of losing the family she’s built for herself, even as her boyfriend nudges her toward commitment. Meanwhile, Finn struggles with the things he’s about to leave behind—namely, his unexpressed feelings for Theo. Does growing up mean growing apart? This Christmas the changes these friends fear may be exactly what they need. . . .Praise for The Christmas Orphans Club:

“Becca Freeman gives a much-needed update to classic holiday tales. Told over the course of eleven Christmases, this witty and heartfelt debut tracks a group of four young New Yorkers as their friendship solidifies into a chosen family, one with its own traditions, tensions, and drama. It’s a whip-smart story of modern love, letting go, and growing up.”
—Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Meet Me at the Lake

“A fabulous festive read about found family. I loved it from the first sentence.”
—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Do

“I’m completely in love with this book! The Christmas Orphans Club is a beautiful story of friendship with laugh-out-loud dialogue and characters you can’t stop thinking about. Becca Freeman’s debut is witty, heartwarming, and hilarious and the most delightful thing you’ll read all year.”
—Jennifer Close, New York Times bestselling author of Marrying the Ketchups

“Freeman’s writing is filled with wit and insight, and her dialogue crackles. Beneath the abundant humor and charm is a thoughtful exploration of friendship, tradition, and the challenges of growing old.”
—Grant Ginder, bestselling author of The People We Hate at the Wedding and Let’s Not Do That Again

“If you adore Christmas and loved Friends, then this is the perfect book for you. I would happily abandon my husband and kids to spend Christmas in New York with Hannah, Finn, Theo and Priya. A festive, funny, hug of a novel about love in all its forms.”
—Clare Pooley, New York Times bestselling author of Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting

“Funny and wise—this totally unexpected story of chosen family warmed me from the inside out. I absolutely adored it.”
—Annabel Monaghan, author of Nora Goes Off Script
 
“The Christmas Orphans has everything you could want in a holiday book-treat: sweetness, laughs, and delicious rom-com moments that’ll make you jump up and yell, ‘Kiss him! Kiss him!’ Thank you, Becca Freeman, for an ensemble cast so lovable I wish they were real and could be my friends.”
—Mary Laura Philpott, author of Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives

“Set in the holiday glow of a luminously rendered New York City, The Christmas Orphans Club is a big-hearted, poignant, page-turning novel about the chosen families that sustain us. Becca Freeman is a writer who truly knows what it means to be a good friend, and she perfectly captures the tensions that arise within a tight-knit group when we make room for romantic love. With this dazzling debut, Freeman is the heir apparent to the mantle of sophisticated, feel-good fiction. I will read anything she writes.”
—John Glynn, author of Out East: Memoir of a Montauk Summer

“A hilarious and poignant contemporary fable.”
—Seattle Times

“Freeman’s take on how relationships evolve is full of feeling.”
—Publishers WeeklyBecca Freeman is the co-host of the popular books and lifestyle podcast Bad on Paper and the co-creator of RomComPods. She is a graduate of Boston College. Becca currently lives in Brooklyn, where she enthusiastically celebrates Christmas every year.

1. What holiday traditions are important to you, and why?

2. Hannah claims she’s an expert at crafting depressing playlists. What songs are on your “feeling sorry for myself” playlist?

3. Hannah and Finn initially bond over their shared experience of not having other family to share Christmas with, but eventually come to be each other’s “person.” Have you ever had a friendship like this? If so, what differentiated your elevated level of connection with this person versus with other friends?

4. As Hannah and Finn embark on their post-college careers, Finn is full of confidence about his future while Hannah doesn’t have much direction. After a couple years, though, it’s Hannah who has found success and Finn who feels lost. Do you think that affected their friendship? Have you ever experienced a similar role-reversal in one of your friendships?

5. Hannah feels like her friends have less time for each other as their priorities shift and they become busier with work and relationships in their thirties. How do you prioritize and make time for your friendships in your own life?

6. What do you think of Finn’s mom? How do you imagine Finn’s relationship with his mom will continue to evolve?

7. When Hannah and David drive back to the city after Thanksgiving with his family, they have a fight about Hannah’s plan to spend Christmas with her friends. David feels that as they become more serious as a couple, they should spend holidays together. Hannah feels that this final Christmas with her friends is too important to miss. Whose side did you take?

8. Finn fears that he will not be able to make close friends after moving to LA, and even if he does they won’t be as close as the friends he already has. Do you feel like it is harder to make friends as an adult than in earlier stages of your life?

9. When Finn tells Hannah that Brooke had actually gone on a trip to honor their mother, Hannah rethinks many of her assumptions about Brooke’s grief. Did that information cause you to see Brooke in a new light? Did it change your perception of Hannah?

10. Hannah’s fears about losing her Christmas tradition are inextricably tied to her fear of losing the family she’s built with her friends. At the hospital, Priya and Finn suggest to Hannah that unwavering traditions aren’t what defines their bond. What do you think makes a family?

11. When should Finn and Theo have come clean about their feelings for one another? Did you see a missed opportunity during their years of friendship, or do you think that the timing played out for the best?

12. From her hospital bed, Priya tells Hannah, “You don’t want to be happy. It’s like you’re allergic to happiness.” Do you think Priya has a point? Are there ways that your own fears hold you back from happiness?

13. If you could plan a no-holds-barred holiday adventure in your favorite city, what would you do?

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