You always looked back, she thought. You looked back at other years, other Christmas cards arriving, the children younger. I'm sneaking my first William Trevor story in a few days early to coincide with my one and only A Literary Christmas entry for 2022. Those who have followed my previous A Literary Christmas stories, will … Continue reading Another Christmas | William Trevor #ALiteraryChristmas
I am a novelist, and I suppose I have made up this story. I write ‘suppose’, though I know for a fact that I have made it up. The Heavenly Christmas Tree was initially published as The Beggar Boy at Christ’s Christmas in 1876 in A Writer’s Diary. It's fair to say that it reflects the religious conversion … Continue reading The Heavenly Christmas Tree | Fyodor Dostoevsky #RUSshortstory
The other day I saw a wedding ... but no, I had better tell you about the Christmas tree. To continue my Literary Christmas reading challenge, I have left behind Mary Gaunt and Australian shores to head off to pre-revolutionary Russia. A Christmas Tree and a Wedding is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It … Continue reading White Nights and other stories | Fyodor Dostoevsky #RUSshortstories
It was a comfortable place, the wide verandah at Warwingie, a place much used by the Warners on all occasions, save during the heat of the day - but the long hot day was drawing to a close now. For this year's A Literary Christmas, I decided to hunt down some seasonal short stories. Most … Continue reading The Moving Finger | Mary Gaunt #AWWshortstories
Back in March, when Covid news was dominating every airway and program, I turned to Angela Thirkell's High Rising for some light relief and old-fashioned comfort. So when I spotted A Literary Christmas over at In the Bookcase, I knew that another trip to High Rising was imminent. Christmas at High Rising is a collection … Continue reading Christmas at High Rising | Angela Thirkell #ALiteraryChristmas
Feeling very grateful, right now, that Tarissa @In the Bookcase is hosting A Literary Christmas this year. It made me search my shelves for something Christmassy that I hadn't read yet. It led me straight into the delightful and utterly charming arms of Beatrix Potter. I confess that I did not read any of the Peter Rabbit … Continue reading The Tailor of Gloucester | Beatrix Potter #ALiteraryChristmas
A Maigret Christmas contains three very different stories by Georges Simenon - A Maigret Christmas, Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook and The Restaurant near Place des Ternes - yet they all share a similar sense of melancholy and loneliness. In Simenon's world, Christmas is not a time for goodwill and cheer, so seasonally well-adjusted … Continue reading A Maigret Christmas | Georges Simenon #ShortStories
I'm not sure what I can say about my reread of A Christmas Carol that hasn't already been said a million times in a million different ways. A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843 and it has never been out of print since. And there's a very good reason for that.This novella is full … Continue reading A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens #ALiteraryChristmas
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