Dear Reader,
I am in the throes of finalising an enormous project for my MA that’s due for submission soon. My stress level is through the roof. This means I am pausing history articles (because of the lack of time for research) until the new year.
In the meantime, I have for you a list of wonderful, wonderful books I think are perfect for reading during this festive season. These are directly from my bookshelves - this is how you know I love this list of books and wholly recommend them. I will never recommend books I plucked straight from a bookseller’s list just for the sake of writing an article to sell you something.
Stories for Christmas and the Festive Season is published by the British Library. It’s a collection of stories written by wonderful women authors such as Maeve Binchy, Elizabeth von Arnim and Alice Munro (among many others). All of the stories are good, but the story that hasn’t left me since I read this edition last year is the one by Elizabeth von Arnim, “Christmas in a Bavarian Village”. While the title may sound charming, it’s an ominous story set in a Germany filled with Nazis, deceitful neighbours, whispers and fear. The main character, a German woman, returns to her native Germany for the first time since 1909 to spend Christmas with her daughter and son-in-law. She finds Germany much changed, to say the least. While the story is very short, its power is in the deceptive descriptions of an idyllic Bavarian Christmas amidst the background of atrocities.
A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries is part of the British Library Crime Classics series. It’s a wonderful collection of wintry-themed stories. The very first short story, “The Black Bag Left on a Doorstep” is a Victorian mystery by a long-forgotten writer, Catherine Louisa Pirkis. The story was first published in a periodical in 1893. I highly recommend this book for reading now or anytime.
Diary of A Provincial Lady by E M Delafield is not Christmas-themed. But the diary begins in November and takes you through a lady’s adventures through Christmas and beyond. It’s a feel-good, epistolary novel about an ordinary homemaker in the English countryside.
Crime at Christmas by C. H. B. Kitchin is exactly what it sounds like, a murder mystery at a grand house during the festive season in the English countryside. And we can’t have enough murder mysteries for the festive season.
I bought this Sherlock Holmes short story last year. Initially, I didn’t realize that it was a festive story but I’m so glad I bought it anyway. I want to read every Sherlock Holmes story and I thought this would be a fun addition to add to my bookshelves. “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” is a charming, festive-themed mystery that involves Sherlock searching for a missing gemstone. There is also the suspense on whether a poor goose is bound for the Christmas luncheon. The story is short, funny, atmospheric and darling. (You can read it for free at Gutenberg.)
Dancing with Death by Joan Coggin is a recent purchase. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s set after World War II during Christmas time in an English country house. Of course, this being an English country house and Christmas time, a murder must take place. It’s described as “a stylish and humorous detective story” and I can’t wait to read it.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a requisite for this time of year. If you don’t want to read it, I highly recommend the audio version read by Hugh Grant. It’s so much fun to listen to. (You can read it for free at Gutenberg.)
Last but not least, A Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer (not pictured) is my favourite Christmas mystery. It’s set in a country house in an English village and the family has gathered to spend the holidays together. Not everyone likes each other and most definitely everyone does not like their host, the patriarch of the family. So when the host is killed, everyone in the family becomes a suspect. It’s humorous and very good, but the reason this book is my favourite is because my husband bought it for me as a Christmas gift the very first Christmas we spent in the very first home we bought. I curled up on the sofa on that Christmas morning in my pyjamas, with a roaring fire and a pot of tea, reading this book in the house that we owned. I felt cosy, secure and happy and this book brings back those feelings. (We still own the home, but as we live in Paris now someone else rents it from us. Who knew I’d grow up to become a landlady?)
Do you have a favourite book set during the festive season?
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and being here. I appreciate your time and the space you make for me in your inbox.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I love reading Wuthering Heights in this season! It brings all the wintery main character energy you need to get through university before the sun has risen 😭
These are some great suggestions, thanks for sharing! I love Christmas-themed British murder mysteries and one I really enjoyed last year was Murder Most Festive by Ada Moncrief. It has all the necessary pieces to create the atmosphere I crave from this genre 🎄