Festive Fiction - a Joint Blog

Novel-Point-Of-Viewers have had a great time thinking up their recommendations for your festive reads. Enjoy!

Victoria Cornwall writes

I have a confession to make. I have only read one book which features Christmas in it and it was so long ago I can't recall the title. I do remember enjoying it as it got me into the festive mood, so it is strange I have not read one since. So when I was asked for my recommendations I decided to cheat.

My publisher, Choc Lit, has released an amazing array of Christmas books this year so it seemed appropriate to bring them to the attention of the Novel Points of View readers. They are:

A Little Christmas Magic by Kirsty Ferry

House of Christmas Secrets by Lynda Stacey

What Happens at Christmas by Evonne Wareham

 A Little Christmas Faith by Kathryn Freeman

A Second Christmas Wish by Kathryn Freeman

Christmas at the Little Village School by Jane Lovering

I am sure there is something to meet your needs, as these books range from time-slip, through to suspense and heartwarming tales. All have a large dollop of romance and festive fun to get you in the mood for Christmas, which are the perfect ingredients for a festive read.

Rae Cowie’s thoughts

I’ve two suggestions (one full of the Christmas spirit, the other more for readers who feel a bit bah-humbug about anything too tinsely!).

Christmas at the Cupcake Café by Jenny Colgan

It’s that time of year when only some festive, feel good fiction will do and Christmas at the Cupcake Café by Jenny Colgan includes all the delicious ingredients needed for a warm and delightful Christmas romance.  We have Issy, the hardworking owner of the tinsel bedecked Cupcake Café in London. Then there’s Austin, the caring boyfriend, doing his best to get on in the world by accepting a job in snowy, lonely New York. Not forgetting Pearl, Caroline and Helena determined to make this Christmas one Issy will never forget.

Christmas at the Cupcake Café is a sequel to Colgan’s Meet Me at the Cupcake Café, however I read this as a standalone and had no problem in working out relationships between characters. This novel delivers exactly what you’d expect – and more. At the beginning of each chapter the reader is given the added bonus of a wonderful cupcake/traybake recipe. And Christmas and baking go hand in hand, right? I can’t wait to try making the Christmas Cherry Chocolate Biscuit Slice, which includes Maltesers and rum! Enjoy!

Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney

I’ll probably go straight on to Santa’s naughty list for recommending a second festive read, but I wanted to recommend one for those who aren’t so keen on all the bells and whistles that perhaps go with more traditional festive novels. Set during Arctic winters when it’s relentlessly cold and dark, at 600+ pages long, Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney is definitely one to read whilst snuggled under a cosy blanket, sipping hot chocolate (or something stronger)…

It’s a time slip novel, beginning in 1948 when we meet an elderly Flora Mackie, known by the press as the Snow Queen, returning to the Arctic, reminiscing about her time spent with fellow explorer Jakob de Beyn, offering us a hint of the mystery that unfolded years before.

We then cut to Dundee, where twelve year old Flora’s mother is dead and her father, a skipper of a commercial whaling vessel, decides to take his only child with him on his next Arctic hunt. It was fascinating to learn how the young, spirited Flora discovered how best to get along with the all male crew, how she coped with the tough realities of Arctic life, made friends with the indigenous Inuit children and fell in love with the landscape. It’s essentially a love story between two Victorian Arctic adventurers – no tinsel in sight!

Jennie Bohnet proposes something different

Trying to decide which book to recommend this year for a Christmas read was difficult to say the least - the market is flooded with Christmas titles. My choice in the end is not a Christmas book at all, nor a new one, but it is one of my favourite reads this year. It does have a religious setting which qualifies it in my mind to be included here for Christmas.

The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers

The history of the cathedral is woven around the story of Agnes Morel, the mysterious cleaning woman whose own history is unknown to the townsfolk. A traumatic story in parts, it’s also a story of how love and mercy can change things. I have to admit to knowing nothing about the ancient cathedral of Chartres before reading this book, now I long to visit and see for myself the mismatched spires and its strange labyrinth.

I think I might just curl up by the fire on Boxing Day and re-read it. Happy Christmas!

Christmas books from Linda Mitchelmore

I am always full of good intentions at Christmas to have a bit of ‘me’ time to sit in a chair by the fire and read a book from cover to cover in there amidst the mince pies and the turkey and the holly. But in truth I don’t really want it, not at Christmas. To me Christmas is all about family and I count my blessings that I have one. Books do feature in my Christmas life, though. Well, two of them do.

The first is Delia Smith’s Christmas for which I think she should have been made a Dame! There’s not a lot in there I haven’t made from it since 1994 when I was given the book for, well, Christmas as it happens. But if I had to choose just one thing to make it would be Delia’s Little Mincemeat Souffle Puddings which are just too divine for words.

Another book that I now know off by heart is Santa, a board book from Marks & Spencer which I bought for my grandson when he was two. He is ten years old now and pretends it is too babyish for him but when I read it to his younger sister he always comes to perch on the arm of my chair to look and listen, too – memories, and especially reading ones, are made of this.

Happy reading, everyone, whatever it is you choose to lose yourself in.



Jennifer Young's contribution

Bah! Humbug! Festive reads? Christmas crackers? What are you all on about? It's only the beginning of December. You’ll be wanting me to put on a Santa hat and sing Jingle Bells before I know it.

Okay, I’m not quite that bad. There’s a touch of snow on the ground just now, under a blue sky, so I suppose it all does look a bit Chrismassy. And actually I’d finished all my Christmas shopping, bar one or two bits, before the middle of November.

That said, I steadfastly refuse to recommend any festive reads, because my social media streams seem to have been flooded with them since the beginning of October. I’m a firm believer in the fact that you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to read a Christmas book, and nor should you be unable to read a summery book at Christmas.

Bearing that in mind I’m going to recommend two books, both by the same author, that astonished me this year. They’re both historicals but very different. One, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is set in the late seventeenth century on the high seas, with a crew and their stowaways careering towards almost certain death as they fight their various demons. The second, Forgotten Places, is a chilling historical set in nineteenth century Tasmania, and contains the most astonishing twist in any book I’ve read this year.

Merry Christmas!

And finally from Gill Stewart

No bah humbug from me! I love Christmas. I know other people may disagree and think it is too commercialized etc etc but I still love it. Time for family, for close friends, for staying home and eating well – and reading lots.

I have 3 recommendations for my Christmas reads – one new and not very festive, one festive and from a few years back, and one festive and old. Enjoy!

NEW – La Belle Sauvage, Volume 1 of the ‘Book of Dust’ by Philip Pullman. Although essentially a YA fantasy read, this is a gorgeous book that I would recommend to anyone. And if it doesn’t have Christmas, it does have floods and visits to the far north – and daemons. I want my own daemon.

FESTIVE – A Proper Family Christmas by Jane Gordon-Cumming. A fun and funny read, farcical at times, but with lots of heart. My only complaint is that JGC hasn’t written another novel since this came out in 2008, although it is now available on Kindle.

OLD – Jo of the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer. I’ve probably mentioned it before but this has truly been my go-to Christmas for the last, well, almost 50 years. Although the book covers a school year, it is the wonderful, inspiring Christmas holiday spent in snowy Innsbruck in the early twentieth century that is my favourite part. Again, it is a children’s/YA book, but one I would thoroughly recommend.

Favourite Festive Reads - 2016

Well this must surely be one of the most diverse joint blog posts we’ve ever produced! Christmas is all about accepting everyone into the fold and boy we’ve gone wide with our favourite Christmas reads.

From new writing, fresh off the press, to nostalgic choices, which we hope might jog some happy memories too. We’d love if you might share some of your own personal favourites…

   

Rae - It was impossible for me to select only one festive read, so have limited myself to two!

One of my 2016 reading resolutions was to read more short stories and so was delighted to discover that four pieces, originally written for newspapers and magazines, by PD James have been made into a collection entitled The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories. PD James was a master of setting and characterisation and her writing very much reminds me of illicit evenings spent under the bedcovers reading Agatha Christie by torchlight. This collection is perfect if you are short on time, but still wish to enjoy pitting your wits against a fantastic crime writer.

I really struggled with my second choice as there are so many

sparkling Christmas reads out there (and so many pretty covers to enjoy). So I've opted to share one which I hope to find tucked in my stocking on Christmas morning - Christmas Under The Stars by Karen Swan. Set in Banff, amongst the majestic snow-topped mountains of the Canadian Rockies, I was immediately drawn to its location, as I was lucky enough to visit Banff a couple of summers ago and adored its alpine feel. (I also live not far from Banff - Scotland!) It's the story of couples, of tragedy, of secrets, of jealousy and love. If I'm unable to celebrate Christmas in the Canadian Rockies, then enjoying Christmas Under The Stars sounds like the next best thing. Happy reading!

Gill - I’m going to choose 2 books for this – the first came out only a few weeks ago, the second was practically the first book I ever fell in love with and it was old even then. So, quite a contrast! My first choice is Stella’s Christmas Wish by Kate Blackadder. I’ve read Kate’s short stories and serials before but this is her first full-length novel and it’s truly lovely. Family problems, a gorgeous Scottish setting (of course!) and a great love story. To me it felt like a modern-day D E Stevenson novel, and I can’t praise anything much higher than that.

My second selection is actually a children’s book, but one I return to year after year at Christmas-time, like many other Chalet School fans. It is Jo Of The Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, and contains one of the most perfect

evocations of a traditional Christmas ever. It is set in Austria in the 1920s but the warmth of the characters and the beautiful snow-filled setting are timeless. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it!

Neil - The other half Audrey has taken the reins for this one... over to you Audrey.

Audrey - I must admit I have never knowingly bought or read a festive story since becoming an adult, so this week I received a £2 thank you credit from Amazon.

I decided to be brave and try an E-Book that I could read on my phone, and if that wasn't enough, I

downloaded The Cosy Christmas Teashop by Caroline Roberts.

It wasn't until I scrolled through reviews that I discovered this was the second in a series, however it didn’t impact on my enjoyment of the read.

Ellie the main character has breathed life into the teashop at Claversham Castle, expanding her business into wedding cakes and planning. The descriptions of delicious cakes in the teashop will have you reaching for the biscuit tin. I read the majority of this whilst sitting in a coffee shop, so the ambient noise added to Roberts wonderful descriptions of the tearoom. This novel was filled with the just the right amount of Christmas cheer, along with a few weddings and the emotional ups and downs that these bring. The Cosy Christmas Teashop was a fantastic introduction to festive reads.

Merry Christmas, when it comes… Audrey

Jennifer - I’m not a seasonal person. Not that I don’t like Christmas — far from it — but I don’t feel obliged to do everything in a particularly Chrismassy way. You’re more likely to find a summer fruit pavlova on our table on 25 December than a Christmas pudding, and I’m as likely to wear tinsel in summer as in winter.

That applies to reading, too. Over the year I’ve been building up a to-be-read pile so long that it’s a mercy it’s on a Kindle, because I certainly don’t have room for it on my bookshelves. But because it’s been accumulated over so long, there’s no real seasonality about it. I won’t be tucking into A Christmas Carol for the umpteenth time, just because it’s December. 

But I will read. I will read at times I never normally read. I’ll sit down after breakfast with a book. I’ll

read if I wake up unusually early. I’ll read while everyone else is sitting through Love, Actually. And I won’t get through the long list of books, but I’ll make a dent. So, in no particular order, here are just some of the ones I hope to tick off my list:

The Bowes Inheritance by Pam Lecky

The Family at Farrshore by Kate Blackadder

A Way From Heart to Heart by Helena Fairfax

The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains by Brevet Col J C Fremont 

Courting the Countess by Anne Stenhouse

The Last Dreamseer by Katy Haye

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Linda - I'm going off piste with my choice of  'Christmas Reads'. I have yet to have a Christmas where I have time to read much beyond the TV listings even though I doze off in front of what I've chosen

anyway. So.... I've gone for children's Christmas stories, which I do find a window of time to read aloud.  My first choice is Raymond Briggs' classic Father Christmas. My copy is rather dog-eared and the white of the cover and the pages rather less than that now. I bought it for my own children and I now read it to my grandchildren. What I - and they - love is the cartoon-strip way the story is told. The artwork is as good as the writing (imho!!) There is minimal dialogue, which means that the children are happy to have a stab at reading it by themselves. I like that Father Christmas has not one, not two, not three, but four (!!!) bottles of wine on his Christmas dinner table. Well, he would need a stiff drink after all that present-delivering worldwide, wouldn't he?

My other choice is a thick card book, written in rhyme (sort of, more doggerel really) which my five-year-old granddaughter

will happily look at any time of the year. The artwork is simple but bright and very engaging for a child. I've been known to read this one six or seven times in a row.... thank goodness there are only fourteen pages! And my excuse for choosing these over the hundreds of Christmas novels and novellas there are out there is that Christmas is for children. We have to make the time magical for them, I think, and that doesn't mean being swamped with expensive presents. What could be better than snuggling up with Grandma under a fleecy blanket, listening to a story, munching on Christmas chocolate?

Please don't be shy, we'd love to hear what will make it to the top of your festive reading pile... from all at Novel Points of View