Shannon O'Neil

Ancient City Christmas Shannon O'Neil

Bailey Hamilton is - literally and figuratively speaking - in quite a bind. It's Christmas Eve and she is being held in the custody of airport security after causing a ruckus in the ticketing terminal on one of the busiest travel holidays of the year. But as Bailey will explain, she is not to blame for the situation at hand. The Hamilton-Flowers-Danforth family boasts more than two decades of Christmas celebrations gone wrong, starting with her parents' shotgun wedding and including a shameful mid-nativity divorce decree, epic family dinner battles, and a pile of other holiday catastrophes that have made Bailey's clan infamous in St. Augustine, Florida, their otherwise quiet and peaceful tiny seaside town. But this year, the family has outdone themselves with tragic hujta fires and blasphemous parade floats; last minute weddings and the celebration of her stepmother's invented "Peacemas"holiday. Adding to Bailey's seething impatience with her family, she seems to be the only one who remembers the tragedy that nearly broke them all. Bailey would have left much sooner if not for the fizzling chance she had of reigniting an old flame with her childhood best friend, Memphis. Now, in an effort to break free from Florida and return to her tiny, peaceful apartment in Boston, Bailey recaps the story of her family's colorful Christmas history to her captor - a lovably large security guard named Tony. Will it be enough to convince him to let her go? And if she does go...will she ever come back?