Mr Dickens And His Carol Samantha Silva A fictional account of how Dickens came to write one of his most famous and beloved stories. When Martin Chuzzlewit is a supreme flop, Dickens must face the fact that his financial status is looking bleak. His publisher declares that he must write a Christmas story immediately or he will face financial ruin. His wife, meanwhile, is planning their annual lavish Christmas party and his kids are tugging on his coat sleeves begging to go to the toy store. Feeling decidedly bah-humbugish with all of this stress, he becomes fractious and irritable so his wife absconds to Scotland with the kids in tow, leaving Dickens to wander the cobbled streets of London, desperately trying to pull his Christmas story out of the cold and foggy air. Making matters worse is that his mind is roiling amidst a sea of troubles—someone is plagiarizing his work, he’s sued for character defamation and his father’s reckless spending leads him to take an ad out in the paper declaring himself not responsible for his father’s debts. When he visits a friend at the local theatre, Dickens has a chance encounter with Eleanor Lovejoy who becomes something of a muse for the next few weeks, offering up some much needed, quiet respite. It’s a beautifully written tale which takes facts from Dickens’ life (Martin Chuzzlewit was indeed a flop) and weaves a charming and magical story which parallels the real A Christmas Carol and is chock full of cheeky little nods and winks to Dickens. A fun and festive read guaranteed to fill you to overflowing with Christmas cheer.
Seven Days Of Us Francesca Hornak Dr. Olivia Birch must spend a week in quarantine upon her return to England, after time in Liberia dealing with the outbreak of a deadly disease. It’s Christmas, so she makes the wild decision to spend it with the family she usually tries to avoid. For seven days, starting December 23rd, Olivia will be confined to the crumbling family seat along with her mother, who is harboring a secret health issue, a father who is harboring a secret (adult) love child and a newly engaged sister, Phoebe, who will not shut up about her impending nuptials. But Olivia, struggling with the ridiculous superficiality of life in general (and Christmas and weddings in particular) after so long in a war torn country, has a secret of her own—a forbidden relationship with an Irish doctor. A week of living on top of each other forces the past to rise up and meet the present and secrets to spill into the cold light of day, Christmas be damned. An occasionally sad, but mostly upbeat storyline full of dry, English, self-deprecating humor and clichéd holiday movie vibes.
One Day In December Josie Silver On a dreary December London day, Laurie is on a crowded bus headed home from work when she makes eye contact with Jack who is outside waiting at a bus stop. In that briefest of moments a connection is made, sparks fly and Laurie’s world realigns itself. She spends the next year looking for Jack, to no avail. Until one day there he is—on the arm of her best friend. Turns out that Jack is the guy that Sarah has been nattering on about for weeks. So what do Jack and Laurie do? Say absolutely nothing. The book follows the two over the course of the next decade, in alternating points of view, as they navigate their relationship with each other, with Sarah, and with the general ups and downs and twists and turns that life has planned for them. At 400 pages this is considerably longer than it needs to be with too much repetition, but it’s also a warm and charming tale of love, friendship and missed opportunities. Fortunately, the back and forth musings of Laurie and Jack have an authenticity which manages to elevate it above a typical romance novel. I’m cheating a touch on this one as most of the book doesn’t take place at Christmas!
Christmas Shopaholic Sophie Kinsella Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas as much as shopping—well, perhaps because of the shopping. But this years’ traditions are upended when her parents announce a move to trendy Shoreditch and, surprise, Becky is volunteered to host the holiday herself. She struggles to find her sister the perfect vegan turkey, her daughter, Minnie, the perfect picnic hamper and her husband the perfect piece of monogrammed luggage. That’s a whole lot of perfection to deal with and shop for, especially when an old boyfriend shows up with his annoying new girlfriend. It’s ridiculously silly and over the top, but—perhaps because of the fuzziness of the season or the fatigue of our current political climate, something about the warm, light-hearted banter, studded with clever quippery carried me along on a sea of champagne bubbles. It’s the fizzy, festive read you might just need to indulge in, with a (no buy) gift idea that was rather inspiring. An especially poignant read given the recent, untimely death of the author.
Small Things Like These Claire Keegan In the run up to Christmas, preparations are well underway in the home of Bill Furlong. As an honest hardworking coal merchant, money is in short supply, but his family—wife Eileen and five lovely daughters—are well provided for. Early one morning, Bill makes a coal delivery to the local convent when he discovers a young girl in the coal house, weak and distraught, asking to see her baby and begging Bill to take her with him. The convent, unbeknownst to Bill is part of what became known as the Magdalene laundries, where, over many years, thousands of Irish women deemed unfit for society were condemned to a life of cruelty in prison like conditions. Bill doesn’t take this young girl home and is haunted by his choice. Aware of the harsh rumors about the convent, his wife insists he keep his head down, knowing full well that if he crosses the wrath of the nuns it will directly impact the chance of their girls getting into the only decent school in town. But we learn that Bill’s mother was unwed and that it was only sheer luck that she was employed by a kind and forward thinking woman who allowed Bill to grow up in the comfort of her home. As the book progresses, Bill wrestles with his conscience in the midst of the merriment and mince pie making domesticity of his family. It’s an exquisitely written sliver of a novel, as quiet as new fallen snow and with whispers of Dickens, but shining a bright Christmas light directly on the hypocrisy of the church.
An English Murder On Christmas Eve at Warbeck Hall, Lord Warbeck is on his death bed and has gathered a small but disparate group of family and friends for one last Christmas. When darkness falls the snow begins in earnest, so when the first body falls at the strike of midnight, the Hall and its inhabitants are fully snowed in and the lines are down. On the plus side, there’s a very British butler who will make sure they are all well fed and a policeman moonlighting as a body guard. Amongst others in attendance are Dr. Bottwink, a Jewish historian who has been staying at the Hall while doing research, Robert, the Lord’s son, who just happens to be the President of an extreme right wing political party, distant relative Lady Prendergast, and the current Chancellor of the Exchequer of the new socialist government. Published in 1951, the setting here sits squarely in the middle of a post-war Britain in transition, and the smattering of political tension throughout offers up an interesting window into the country at this time. An enjoyable, classic country house murder mystery, albeit one which leans a little more into stodgy than bright and breezy.