Christmas Stories

 

Do you read any Christmas stories? 

I don't know if you have felt stressed and overwhelmed this year, but I sense that you have because I have and everyone I talk to has as well. I think this year I have needed extra cheer, so I have turned to some charming Christmas stories that remind me of that wonderful feeling of giving and loving amidst wintry journeys, struggles, darkness, and family's squabbles. My favourite has been A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - that classic story with heart and soul. That story came out when the world needed some cheer in Dickens's day. Sometimes I think Christmassy short stories are the best antidote to the bustle and stress of these days that have an additional hindrance of a virus that keeps sticking around.

This collection of Christmas stories by Anthony Trollope (1815 - 1882) is pure fun. It has the charm of the 19th century English humour.  I am not super familiar with Trollope yet, but he was an enormously successful writing in his lifetime, and wrote a lot of books. These stories are a good mix of British life and fun tales of Christmas mishaps wrapped in the Englishness I find so fun. 

The first story and title of the book is about a husband and wife staying in a hotel in France on their way back to England on Christmas Eve, set to depart from the hotel to catch the train at 5:45 AM to get to Thompson Hall in time for the Christmas events. The husband does not want to go, and he feigns illness to try to persuade his wife they need to stay, but she really wants to go back to her family home and all the crazy comforts and chaos that Christmas is. To try to satisfy her husband's request for a jar of mustard, she goes off on a humorous journey in the middle of the night through the hotel on a mission that goes a bit astray. Well, the mishap that occurs follows her on her journey all the way back to England. 

So what are you reading to bring some cheer at the end of this 2020 year?