Treasures in Straw: Exploring the griefs and gifts of the Christmas story

For some, Christmas is a magical time. For others, it can be painful, and the usual tinselled tellings of the Christmas story feel unbearably saccharine. Yet in that first Christmas, all of life is there – disgrace and honour, danger and protection, uncertainty and hope, temptation and tyranny, sorrow and celebration. With thoughtful research, pastoral insight, and honest stories, Treasures in Straw explores the themes of loss and blessing throughout the nativity. Against a darker backdrop, we see with greater clarity God's unexpected generosity and our unshakeable blessings. However you feel about Christmas, this book will leave you with fresh hope, deeper understanding, and genuine joy in living with Christ.

‘Finally, an Advent book for all of us – for those who weep and mourn as much as for those who anticipate and celebrate. Release your pent-up breath and receive God’s loving balm as you read this treasure.’ Amy Boucher Pye, author of Celebrating Christmas

‘Tanya Marlow has written a rare and beautiful book. With theological depth, pastoral wisdom, and remarkable emotional intelligence, Marlow re-enters the Christmas story not through nostalgia, but through the lived realities of ordinary people carrying hidden wounds. She reveals how the incarnation speaks not only to joy, but also to infertility, chronic illness, loneliness, trauma, exclusion, war, poverty, and fear. The result is a devotional work that feels both deeply contemporary and time-lessly Christian. This is theology at its most pastoral and pastoral care at its most theological.’ Revd Dr Timothy Goode, Canon for Congregational Discipleship and Nurture at York Minster, and author of Breaking, Not Broken

‘As a reader, I look forward to returning to this book each Advent, and as a speaker, I look forward to pointing others to the wisdom in its pages.’ Naomi Hutchison, poet and speaker ‘This book is written with warmth, wit, and courage, and refuses to settle for a one-dimensional view of the festive season. A moving, accessible, and soul-soothing read. This is the Christmas devotional that was waiting to be written.’ Revd Dr Trystan Owain Hughes, author of Living the Prayer and To Hell’s Mouth and Back

‘What a gift this book is. Tanya has unearthed riches for us to treasure amid the realities of everyday life. I highly recommend pondering each passage and lingering longer over the reflection that follows.’ Cathy Madavan, author, speaker, and coach

'Treasures in Straw is a kind and wise friend to remind us of the treasure of Jesus’ coming amidst the darkness we face in the world.’ Rachael Newham, theologian and author

‘A truly stunning and thought-provoking read which brings alive the old, old stories of Christmas. If you have ever searched for meaning behind the tinsel and treats of this season, then I urge you to take up Tanya’s invitation to join her on a revealing journey which looks unflinchingly at the human realities of the nativity both then and now.’ Revd Dr Emma Pennington, Canon Missioner, Canterbury Cathedral, and author of All Shall Be Well

‘Refusing to sentimentalise the nativity story, Tanya Marlow offers us something hopeful and authentic: a vision of God with us in the midst of our real human pain and struggle. I have huge respect for Tanya as a thinker, communicator, and activist. She embodies the hope she describes, making this the perfect way to enter the Advent season.’ Revd Will Van Der Hart, priest and author

‘Tanya brings the grit back into this sanitised season while always pointing us to hope. You’ll see Christmas’ characters caked with the same dust your own life carries, then discover the promises given to them are the same promises given to you. This is the kind of devotional writing I need. Show me Christmas’ griefs so my own are given context. Show me its gifts so I might enter its joys. Show me the manger and a God clothed in flesh. Treasures in Straw does all this and more.’ Sheridan Voysey, author of Resurrection Year and The Making of Us

‘I read this book with a deep appreciation of its authenticity and encouragement. Tanya Marlow writes open-eyed about the realities of God’s people’s life experiences, their highs and lows, then and now. A genuinely valuable devotional book for Advent and Christmas-tide.’ Revd Dr Jenni Williams, vicar of St Matthew’s with St Luke’s Oxford

‘I love Marlow’s thoughtful reading of the Christmas narrative and her insights born from personal experience, the historical and biblical work of scholars, African theologians, and much more. Treasures in Straw is a beautiful book to read and share with others.’ April Yamasaki, pastor and author of Sacred Pauses, Four Gifts, and Hope Beyond Our Sorrows

Reviewed by Richard Frost

Christmas can be like Marmite – one either loves it or hates it.

While that is not exactly Tanya Marlow’s approach to this book of daily devotions for Advent to Epiphany, Treasures in Straw explores both the griefs and the gifts of the Christmas story.

In its pages, the author invites us to ‘look afresh at the original Christmas story, with the freedom to be honest in lament, exuberant in praise or both together.’

There are the familiar and the comfortable Advent and Christmas themes and there is the unfamiliar and the uncomfortable too. Tanya Marlow’s writing is influenced by her own experience of life (notably long term disability) and includes examples from the lives of others known and unknown to her. Some of those examples are a difficult read but they contain treasures too.

Following Elizabeth, Zechariah and Mary in particular, the book also considers the experience of Joseph although for this reviewer, the last few devotions on Paul don’t really fit.

There are the usual suggestions for personal reflection and prayers along with a invitation to sing as well. A useful bibliography and group study discussion material is also included.

Among the plethora of books for Advent, Treasures in Straw brings thoughts and observations which link well with the day to day living of life and what that can mean at Christmas.

Richard Frost is the author of Life with St Benedict and writes a blog at workrestpray.com. Writing in both fiction and faith genres, he is also the author of six  other books.