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An English Christmas
An English Christmas | John Julius Norwich
2 posts | 1 read | 2 to read
'If I could work my will,' said Scrooge indignantly, 'Every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.' This year go carol-singing in the Cotswolds with Laurie Lee or attend church with a grumpy Samuel Pepys. Make plum puddings for bemused French villagers with Elizabeth David; go present shopping with Virginia Woolf or eat far too much with Agatha Christie. Celebrate Christmas at Chatsworth, in the workhouse or marooned in the ice with Shackleton ... For the last forty-five years, the arrival of John Julius Norwich's latest Christmas Cracker has become as essential a part of the Christmas experience as holly and mistletoe. In An English Christmas the legendary popular historian has finally gathered all the best writing about this strangest and most memorable time of year into one book and his brilliant eye for a story is evident on every page. Vividly evoking all the good things about the festive season, this unexpected anthology is just as entertaining about its darker aspects. Eight-year-old Princess Margaret's thank-you list jostles with moving letters home from the trenches. Sherlock Holmes solves his trickiest case. George Orwell writes about indigestion; Jane Austen about reluctant socialising and Thomas Hardy about the old folk belief that all animals kneel at midnight on 24 December. There are ghost stories, games and bizarre recipes. Diary-entries, recipes and letters sit alongside poems and short stories. An English Christmas could convert any Scrooge into an instant enthusiast.
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Hooked_on_books
An English Christmas | John Julius Norwich
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In the time it usually takes me to send something by priority mail to my mom (Hawaii to California), @squirrelbrain has managed to get a card to me from all the way around the world! Thank you, Helen! I really enjoyed receiving this, and it‘s so nice of the National Trust to make Christmas cards with your namesake! 😉

squirrelbrain I‘m surprised it got there so quickly, with state of both the UK and US postal systems! And of course, it had to be squirrel-related! Have a lovely Christmas, Holly. (edited) 3y
Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain You too, Helen! 3y
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SusanInTiburon
An English Christmas | John Julius Norwich
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A little comfort reading for Christmas. This new Christmas-themed anthology by John Julius Norwich is absolutely fabulous!

And Miss Read! Miss Read was hygge before hygge was a thing. Hyggelig og koselig.

shawnmooney How lovely to see you on here again! 😍 7y
LeahBergen So cute (and I‘ve been meaning to read Miss Read)! 7y
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