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The book was first published in 1945, towards the end of World War II which is mentioned in passing as part of current events, and as explanation why some of the husbands and many friends are not there. His book ‘Anxious People’ was allocated for this month’s reading group, so I acquired a copy and then read it in three or four days. I have almost finished this 400+ page book already, and a lovely heart-warming Christmas story it is. El thinks he’s probably gay, which makes it easier for her to relate to him - but it quickly becomes clear that the two are beginning to experience a mutual attraction.
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. Each month I pick a few select charities broken down by our most popular countries that you can support instead. Recommended if you want something that’s written from a loosely Christian perspective on the topic of hope, but without any proselytism or preaching. Cathy has that wonderful self-deprecating Irish humor that makes you laugh out loud and love her characters so you don’t want the book to end. But we can hardly complain, with so much to revisit if we know her books, and to discover for the first time if we don’t – thirty two novels under her own name and four as Willa Marsh, and all, of course, written after the age of fifty.
In 2023 I’m going to go back to re-reading the Regency and other historical novels, so as it’s close to Christmas it made sense for my last chosen detective book of the year to be ‘Envious Casca’, which goes by the alternative (and far less erudite) title of ‘A Christmas Party’. Margaret’s main interests are her husband and family, her friends, her home, her garden, writing, literature, architecture, décor, social history, photography, historic houses and gardens, and towns, villages and the countryside. And we’ve been told that it will be even milder in the week, anything from around 18C to 20C in the south of England. Along the way there are bad guys plotting to do the lovely little group of Anglican nuns out of their home.
She and her husband had been having a difficult time and selling her book to America made a huge difference to their lives.Anne Lamott was around my age when she wrote this book, but evidently a great deal more active even though she mentions aches and discomforts of being not as young as she once was. Missee Lee is spoken about elsewhere in hushed tones, or to scare small children, but she turns out to be a delightful person who was educated at a British school, and then started a degree at Cambridge. Then things start going missing, so many that it’s evidently not carelessness, but someone stealing. I thought it was very well done, within the bounds of a pocket-novel or novella format, with a positive outcome… and then an epilogue that complemented the story nicely, though to say anything else would be too much of a spoiler.
Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. I started with ‘ Mystery at Witchend in August 2020, and - interspersed with many other books - I’ve gradually read them, some in the full ‘Girls Gone By’ editions for the first time. It’s a good story, one I liked reading; I wonder if I’ll remember the plot better when I re-read it in another decade or so. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Each main section then divides into around ten to fifteen individual days with a couple of paragraphs quoted from the Bible, and a few paragraphs of Adrian Plass’s commentary. They’ve matured somewhat, and the real risks of danger are not minimised when some very unpleasant activity is uncovered. I have always loved Marcia’s books, and she also wrote a trilogy, the Chadwick Chronicles, which I really enjoyed. I too am partial to Christmas romances, not least because ones set in England are lovely and wintery and are a nice respite from our hot and humid Christmases.
But I’m glad I re-read these first two, which reminded me just why I liked them so much as a teenager, and I’d recommend them to anyone aged about eight or nine and up who likes this kind of book. However she’s quite startled to encounter a young man walking out of the mist; she doesn’t have a good first impression of him, but then again she can’t quite forget him. Yes, the leaves are now falling from our walnut tree, lots of sweeping will be done I expect in the coming weeks, but much depends on how husband’s health is for this strenuous job. Nor had I remembered that, despite the rather basic style, there are a couple of very moving scenes in this book.I love all Marcia Willett books and have just been re reading The Christmas Angel for about the fourth time.
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