A theme that runs through all the stories in this collection is expressed most succinctly by Miss Hall in "Pulling Together": "I think Christmas is particularly hard, we have such high expectations, and it never lives up to them." The theme is most graphically demonstrated by Orla in "The Ten Snaps of Christmas" as she ruthlessly decides "to get a picture of Christmas the way it really is, not all people just posing and smiling."

In the world of Binchy's stories, the holiday season often becomes a time to plan and calculate, instead of letting events take care of themselves, as they do in ordinary time. Christmas becomes a high drama, and Binchy's characters vividly prove that they are inferior as actors, producers, and directors. Their flawed humanity prevents them from putting on the perfect Christmas show.

The exploration of Christmas as a material myth is complemented by the theme of Christmas as spiritual epiphany. The focal characters in this collection work their way out of a period of darkness and into a season of lengthening light. Like the Magi in the original Christmas story, Binchy's characters experience revelations that offer them a new outlook on life, and frequently, new hope.

Because Binchy enjoys twists and turns in her plots, not all of the endings are entirely happy. Orla's family in "The Ten Snaps of Christmas" is to be pitied until the young woman runs out of either enthusiasm or Polaroid film. Miss Martin of "Wish" and Janet of "The Christmas Baramundi" face the prospect of spending at least one more Christmas alone. The ironic tragicomedy of the Dunne family in "The Best Inn in Town" is that they probably will not be alone for several more Christmases to come.

The power love has to transform ordinary lives is what provides hope in Binchy's fiction. That for some characters love is elusive or a prelude to heartbreak and frustration is what draws readers and critics alike to conclude that her fiction has the aura of reality.