Eaton's Once Upon a Christmas


Fiction - Magic/Wizardry
40 Pages
Reviewed on 11/21/2020
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

About the author: Susan Hathiramani

Susan grew up on a farm near the Boreal Forest in Saskatchewan. At an early age, she developed a love for gymnastics, horses, art, British fairytales, and being outdoors in nature.

Susan worked at the Eaton’s department store as a Visual Merchandiser during the 1980s.

After graduating from Business College; she moved to the North-West Territories and worked in a Travel agency. Susan missed living on the prairies, so she decided to move back to rural Saskatchewan.

At the age of twenty-six, she met John Ewert, who owned a kitchen manufacturing company. After a few conversations with each other, they discovered they both had worked for the Eaton’s Department Stores. They began dating and were married two years later on October 28, 1991.
Their memories about the magical display 'Once Upon a Christmas' were precious and always shared with others.

Throughout John and Susan’s seventeen years of marriage, they both enjoyed creating Christmas displays, art, gardening, nature hikes, politics, photography, and renovating old houses. Their final renovations were at the former United church and a small Eaton’s home, they owned in Hawarden, Saskatchewan.

John lost his battle with cancer on October 24, 2007. He passed from this world to the next, leaving only his memories and recollections in our hearts.

Susan wanted to remember John’s passion for nature, inventing, Saskatchewan politics and the Arts; so she began to write fairy tales about the "Wizard of Hawarden".


    Book Review

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

Eaton's Once Upon a Christmas by Susan Hathiramani is a magical tale of Christmas. T. Eaton’s Company has welcomed the Christmas season and the Wizard was filled with goodwill. Every year, he decorates the windows with seasonal displays and this year is no different. He loves to see people gazing into the store, kids and adults alike, and creates magical scenes to draw them in. He lovingly rebuilds the Winterkin’s Ferris Wheel, turns it on, and the ride begins to whirl, casting a glow over the winter scene. Then the Wizard invites a young woman to join him to watch the scene, a woman who had sought him out to see his displays, something she will remember for the rest of her life. But all good things must come to an end and the day arrives when the displays must be packed away. But only until next year, when the Wizard will magically bring them back to life.

Eaton’s Once Upon a Christmas by Susan Hathiramani is a wonderful short story about Christmas at Eaton’s. Of course, it’s more than just a kids' story; it’s the author’s way of remembering all the wonderful times she and her late husband shared when they worked together at Eaton’s. It is just a short story but it tells a magical tale, descriptive enough to draw you in with just the words alone; the illustrations are an added bonus. If you close your eyes, you can see the winter wonderland scenes created by the Wizard, so join him as he brings everything to life once more. Kids and adults alike will love this short, well-written Christmas story, just one of many penned by Susan in a bid to keep her husband’s memory alive and share the magic with the rest of the world.