Times are hard in London… dare they hope for a miracle this Christmas? Perfect for the fans of Katie Flynn and Dilly Court. December 1930. Christmas should be for the children – but with the Depression biting deeper, it looks like many in the East End will wake up to nothing on Christmas morning. Widower Robbie Graham is out of luck and work. Some weeks, he earns just enough to put food on the … weeks, he earns just enough to put food on the table for his children, Ben and Ruthie. A treat for their Christmas stockings is a distant dream for his little family.
Local cake shop owner Flo Hawkins can’t bear the thought of any child having nothing for Christmas. Along with her beloved sister Honour, she hatches a plan to bring some festive cheer to the community.
But maybe this year, it will be Flo who receives the greatest gift of all…
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A superb insight into how poverty was in those days. Very aptly written and the author gave us a real feel for the characters. Such a good writing style and I am now off to devour this author’s collection.
Christmas is for Children by Rosie Clarke carries readers back in time to November of 1932 in the East End of London. Robbie Graham is a widower with two young children. Dock work has slowly been drying up since the beginning of the Depression and, after Robbie defended a man, he has been blacklisted. The kids miss their mother, are hungry and their clothing is worn out and too small. Robbie needs to find a way to provide for his children and, with Christmas fast approaching, he would like to do something special for them.
Flo Hawkins owns and operates a cake shop with the assistance of her daughter, Honour. They also take care of their invalid and demanding father, Ernest. Since Ernest had his second stroke that confined him to bed, his attitude and language have taken a downturn. What no one knows is that Honour is Flo’s daughter. Flo fell in love with Honour’s father, but he did not stand by her when she told him about the pregnancy. Flo spends her Friday evenings helping at Reverend John Hansen’s mission. They provide a meal everyday to the poor and on Friday evenings they have games and raffles. The money they earn from the raffles helps provide something special for Christmas for those in the East End. Flo and Honour would like to do something extra this year for the kids in the area. Life is hard for those in the East End, but they have each other. Neighbors, friends and family come together to help each other out especially during the holiday season. What happens when someone attempts to thwart the special Christmas plans they have planned?
I found Christmas is for the Children to be a well-crafted novel. The author takes the time set up the story. We are given descriptions of the East End, the docks, the shops, the homes and the people. Many of the inhabitants live in dilapidated homes that need to be torn down. Some do not have running water or indoor toilets. Work is scarce making it hard to provide for families. Ms. Clarke paints a realistic picture along with well-developed characters. I only summarized a small portion of the story above. We get to see things from a working man’s point-of-view along with a shop owner, children, a vicar, a nurse and an elderly couple. I like that we get different perspectives. It is heartwarming to see how they help each other and share what little they have with others. There was so much hardship, suffering and hopelessness. It was nice to see the characters develop as the story progresses. The pace is gentle. It is not fast nor is it slow, but it does suit the story. We see the importance of having hope, a good heart, and knowing right from wrong. Rosie Clarke created a novel that draws in the reader and keeps their attention until the very last word. Christmas is for the Children will leave you with a positive impression, a smile on your face, and happiness in your heart.
This was a wonderful, sad, heart breaking and heart warming story of a British neighborhood during the Depression. It tells of the many different struggles and crises endured by its residents and does so in such a way that you can almost feel the cold, the fear, the disappointment and the sheer joy and gratefulness of these characters. Rosie Clarke is a wonderful writer and I would pick up any book with her name on it, because they are always so, so good. Very strongly recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author Rosie Clarke, and the publisher Aria, for an ARC of this beautiful story. This is my honest opinion.
This story is a “snapshot” into the lives of several people living in/around the docks of London in 1932. It is a tale of how the 1929 stock market crash in the U.S. effected Europe/England.
The main characters are a man, Robbie, and his two children, Ben and Ruthie, along with Flo, her sister Honour, and their father. The story shows how a strong sense of community is what keeps these main characters, and the people they interact with, strong in the face of job scarcity, starvation, illness, and a multitude of other daily hurdles.
I felt that this was a very well written story and the characters are well developed; tugging at my heartstrings. I kept wanting to find out what was going to happen next. The author wrote in a way that made me “see” the different housing, the long lines of men waiting for a job, smell the cakes being baked at the bakery. This is a wonderful story that reminds the reader of what the Christmas season is all about … “it’s not what we get it’s what we give…”
The Author really had a good handle on the rough go all had during the depression. The characters were very real and so were their stories. I felt the was a little too much that was repeated and could have been trimmed without compromising the story at all. I look forward to reading more from Rosie Clarke.