My Christmas Reading - Part 1

Happy New Year! We're a week in and already I'm behind. I read a number of books over the holidays that I haven't found time to write about so here's a quick summary.

A Halifax Christmas Carol by Steven Laffoley

I was excited to find a Christmas story set in Halifax, not your typical holiday fiction setting. Many take you to sparkling cities - New York, Paris - or idyllic winter spots - Vermont, Scandanavia - all great backdrops for a festive story/romance, but not terribly realistic for most of us. 

This one is set in 1918 Halifax, N.S., a city devestated by the great explosion of a year earlier. The author makes it very real, writing of soldiers - some without limbs, some broken mentally by the unthinkable horrors they've seen - coming home at long last only to find the homes and families they'd been longing for gone forever. And now the deadly influenza pandemic killing millions around the world is coming for them.

In the midst of all this sorrow, a couple of reporters - one fresh and optimistic, one seasoned and cynical - cover stories of returning soldiers, desperate families, and orphaned children. The cynic is convinced there is no reason to hope that life will ever be good again, until one day a young boy comes in off the street and leaves 25 cents on the front counter "for the kids" he's read about in the paper's tragic stories. What follows is a search to locate him and find out why he would give away what little he had, a search during which everyone involved will be changed, especially our Scrooge-like cynic.   

This was an uplifting story and a nice surprise. There is a romance - it seems a Christmas story must have one - but it's mostly about finding a reason for hope in the midst of despair. This is one I will probably read again next year.

The Birds of the Air by Alice Ellis Thomas

I didn't see much in the plot or the characters in this one. One particular scene was so unlikely and ridiculous that it reminded me a little of Cold Comfort Farm (which I, in fact, loved). It's about a family getting together for Christmas with none of them very happy about it except the mother who tries very hard to make it nice. There's not much joy to be had here with most of the characters surly, usually for good reason. Having said that, I do think it deserved more than the cursory reading I gave it, so I'll read it again and see if I can't find a little more in it.

Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes

A sweet...bordering on too sweet...story about a girl spending some time away over Christmas at a cozy Vermont inn. The trip is a gift from a friend with an ulterior motive - she knows an old boyfriend will be there at the same time and is hoping the two will make a connection. They do of course and it ends as you would expect. Some of it is a rather unrealistic but it's a light holiday read if that's what you're looking for.

The Christmas Tree by David Adams Richards

There are two short stories in this little book - The Carmichael's Dog and The Christmas Tree. In the first, two boys find a puppy and decide to keep it as a Christmas gift for their mother, but when a police car with the dog's owner shows up at their house, and their frantic attempts to hide it are unsuccessful, they face losing the dog and the good will of their neighbours. 

In the second story, The Christmas Tree, two boys go on a very long trek to find the perfect tree only to realize when they get there that they didn't think to bring an axe. On the way home the perfect tree appears out of nowhere. Nice stories, both.

Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Stories by Anthony Trollope

 

Five refreshingly different short stories in Trollope's wonderful writing. What more could you want? Original review here.