cover image The Christmas Store

The Christmas Store

Ray Sipherd. St. Martin's Press, $17.95 (214pp) ISBN 978-0-312-09768-4

In attempting to evoke a sweet old-fashioned feel, Sipherd ( The Courtship of Peggy McCoy ) has overshot his mark with this cloying collection. The 12 stories are set in and around a big-city department store during the Christmas season. The store locale supplies the sights and sounds; the characters (maintenance men, mannequins, customers, salespeople); and the various enchanted props like the ``Eau de Noel,'' a mysterious perfume that provides the catalyst for romantic love, or a magical date book that renews a depressed man's spirit of giving in ``Lost and Found.'' Sipherd's magical store helps tormented, lonely city dwellers find the Christmas spirit in ``The Crystal Silver China Club,'' in which casual co-workers form a club and host a Christmas party, and in ``The Star Checker,'' in which an elderly widower at last finds happiness. Charm proves elusive here, succumbing to banality. (Oct.)