Jacob T. Marley: 4 Stars

Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett

I was not super excited about reading this book because, well, it's a a sequel of a Dickens novel NOT written by Dickens. Eeek! My book club was reading it and my sister and mother both raved about it.  So I read it.

Now, I grew up being a huge fan of Marley.  This is because my family watches the Albert Finney movie Scrooge every year.  When I read A Christmas Carol, I was shocked at how spot on it was (except the singing of course). But my favorite part was Marly.  Marley was played by Alec Guinness, aka Obewan.  He was AWESOME! 

So, seeing as I am a huge fan of Marley, I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that I loved this book.

This book covers before, during, and after A Christmas Carol, but tells the story of Marley rather than Scrooge. Like Scrooge, Marley was an angry, selfish, lonely man. He cut off his family, made no friends, and was kind to no one. After becoming partners with Scrooge, he turned the "on the fence" Scrooge into a crotchety old man, just like himself.

But on his deathbed, Marley saw what he had done to Scrooge, and immediately wished he had done it all differently.

What a wonderful story!  This story breathed life into a tale that has been told countless times. I loved it!