Symptom: Needing Christmas Cheer
Cure: Candles, Fairy lights a comfy chair, a festive drink and some Christmas books
At this time of year, everyone is talking about Christmas spirit and festive cheer. The reality can is it can sometimes be difficult to find this. Especially if life is busy or fraught, and time is short, as it often is in December.
In my experience, one of the best places to find Christmas cheer is between the pages of a book. Picking up a Christmassy book demands little of you, particularly none of the pressure to ‘feel christmassy’ which the world so often demands of us.
If you are struggling to find Christmas spirit this year, and don’t know where to go to find it, then might I recommend the following. All of these books are undemanding of your attention but generous in their rewards. They contain festive goodwill in abundance and are perfect for those who are feeling more ‘bah hambug’ than ‘full of good cheer’.
Mr Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva
Most of us know the story of Dickens A Christmas Carol. Even if we haven’t read it, chances are we will have seen it in a televised or cinematic form. This book is the imagining behind Dickens’ Christmas Carol. What led him to write it and where all those well known characters have their origins.
Fact and fiction are seamlessly knitted together, and injected with a little bit of magic creating a charming story, full of warmth with an unexpected and lovely twist. ‘Mr Dickens and his Carol’ is guaranteed to ease you into the festivities, immersing you into Dickensian London with all the sights, sounds, and of course food of a Victorian Christmas.
Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater
This is the perfect book for finding Christmas cheer on every beautifully curated and written page. Part cook book and part memoir, It will have you longing to both curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and take to your kitchen to do some methodical stirring and mixing. As with all things Nigel Slater it is stylishly put together, The images are gentle and without fuss. Nigel’s writing style is utterly appealing, He is enthusiastic without being gushing. He understands food and the emotive role it plays in lives, and he clearly loves Christmas and the winter months.
A Childs Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
This is Dylan Thomas’s recollection of his own Childhood in Wales. It is a children’s book but I think perhaps even more perfect for adults. It is a collection of memories as Dylan reminisces on what made his Christmas special. All of us like to look back at Christmas and always evokes memories of childhood. Enjoy the beautiful descriptive passages of snowy days and gaggles of misfitting relatives in a tiny part of Wales and I guarantee you will find a little festive warmth all of your own.
“It was on the afternoon of the day of Christmas Eve, and I was in Mrs Prothero’s garden, waiting for cats, with her son Jim. It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas. December in my memory was as white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers but there were cats”.
Christmas Poems by Wendy Cope
At this time of year, finding time to sit with a novel may just prove to much. This is where Christmas poetry comes into its own. For this situation I would wholeheartedly recommend Wendy Cope’s collection of Christmas poetry. I love her poems at any time of year, but I feel she captures the reality of Christmas like no one else. She is insightful and touching and covers all aspects of Christmas, including the sadness it can bring for many. So even if you can’t or don’t want to find Christmas cheer, these poems are for you too.
And if all else fails, when Christmas Eve arrives, sit your self down with a glass of something cheering and read A A Visit From St Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore.
