Have a Very Merry, Ghostly Christmas!G. Lawrence presents a collection of five short ghost stories, all based in Cornwall and Devon for Christmas. Spooky, amusing, and touching by turns, these ghost stories are a great seasonal buy!
This is a collection of five long short stories, all very different. My favourites are Hot Toddy, a beautiful story about a woman of nearly eighty who is visited by someone she loves very much, and the last one, The Christmas Ghosts itself, which is about a young woman who earns money by house-sitting for the wealthy, whilst trying to put together her first novel. I liked this one because her life appealed to me; the solitude in the lovely house, the beautiful surroundings, the hours and hours of uninterrupted time to write. I was amused by her rather childlike debut novelist fancies and fantasies, and nodded my head a few times about the difficulty she has in getting her friends and family to take what she is doing seriously. Oh yes, and the Christmas ghosts themselves. I can’t tell you about them, because that would give away the story, but it’s a lovely idea, and something I would adore; a view into the past.
I’ve only read historical fiction by this author, so it was interesting to see how she fared with contemporary stories, but I am happy to report that, yes, she can do this, too! Another thing I liked about this collection was that it is not twee or ‘heartwarming’, as some Christmas stories can be; one of the ghosts is a mangled animal, and another wears a Nirvana hoodie.
Author
georgiarose
3 years ago
I chose to read The Christmas Ghosts as a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team and received a copy from the author but that has not affected the content of this review.
Guardian – Henry is on his way to stay in a cottage with his fiancée, Billie, when he gets lost on Bodmin Moor in the snow. Help arrives unexpectedly but Henry is even more surprised when he finds out who his rescuer was.
Hot Toddy – This was a lovely story of an elderly woman’s special tradition at Christmas. She has all her family staying with her, or at least nearly all, and this ritual is all about that missing element. Thoughtful and wonderfully written and I really enjoyed this one.
Rodger Reed and the Road Kill Rabbit – Rodger is a horrible, horrible man. He is on his way home for Christmas, not because he wants to see his family but because he wants to make sure his father is leaving him exactly what he wants in his will, as he should. He kills a rabbit on the way with little remorse but lives to regret his lack of care.
Old Man Symmonds – Hayley is having a horrendous time under her new boss, Carol. She leaves and gets a temporary job in retail. Given the task of locking up one night she gets some overtime to clear up the stock room on the strict understanding she is to leave by 7pm. However, Hayley loses track of time, something she soon bitterly regrets.
The Christmas Ghosts – Eloise has made a career out of housesitting and is booked to look after a wonderful Victorian, very large cottage on the Cornish coast. She is a writer working on her first novel and is planning on getting a lot done on it during that month. It sounds idyllic to me – a writers’ retreat, you get paid to go to? What’s not to love!
Eloise was planning to spend Christmas Day with her family but after a row with her mother she returns to the cottage, and is astonished by what she finds going on there.
These stories are all very well written and are an entertaining and enjoyable read I’d highly recommend.
This is a collection of five long short stories, all very different. My favourites are Hot Toddy, a beautiful story about a woman of nearly eighty who is visited by someone she loves very much, and the last one, The Christmas Ghosts itself, which is about a young woman who earns money by house-sitting for the wealthy, whilst trying to put together her first novel. I liked this one because her life appealed to me; the solitude in the lovely house, the beautiful surroundings, the hours and hours of uninterrupted time to write. I was amused by her rather childlike debut novelist fancies and fantasies, and nodded my head a few times about the difficulty she has in getting her friends and family to take what she is doing seriously. Oh yes, and the Christmas ghosts themselves. I can’t tell you about them, because that would give away the story, but it’s a lovely idea, and something I would adore; a view into the past.
I’ve only read historical fiction by this author, so it was interesting to see how she fared with contemporary stories, but I am happy to report that, yes, she can do this, too! Another thing I liked about this collection was that it is not twee or ‘heartwarming’, as some Christmas stories can be; one of the ghosts is a mangled animal, and another wears a Nirvana hoodie.
I chose to read The Christmas Ghosts as a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team and received a copy from the author but that has not affected the content of this review.
Guardian – Henry is on his way to stay in a cottage with his fiancée, Billie, when he gets lost on Bodmin Moor in the snow. Help arrives unexpectedly but Henry is even more surprised when he finds out who his rescuer was.
Hot Toddy – This was a lovely story of an elderly woman’s special tradition at Christmas. She has all her family staying with her, or at least nearly all, and this ritual is all about that missing element. Thoughtful and wonderfully written and I really enjoyed this one.
Rodger Reed and the Road Kill Rabbit – Rodger is a horrible, horrible man. He is on his way home for Christmas, not because he wants to see his family but because he wants to make sure his father is leaving him exactly what he wants in his will, as he should. He kills a rabbit on the way with little remorse but lives to regret his lack of care.
Old Man Symmonds – Hayley is having a horrendous time under her new boss, Carol. She leaves and gets a temporary job in retail. Given the task of locking up one night she gets some overtime to clear up the stock room on the strict understanding she is to leave by 7pm. However, Hayley loses track of time, something she soon bitterly regrets.
The Christmas Ghosts – Eloise has made a career out of housesitting and is booked to look after a wonderful Victorian, very large cottage on the Cornish coast. She is a writer working on her first novel and is planning on getting a lot done on it during that month. It sounds idyllic to me – a writers’ retreat, you get paid to go to? What’s not to love!
Eloise was planning to spend Christmas Day with her family but after a row with her mother she returns to the cottage, and is astonished by what she finds going on there.
These stories are all very well written and are an entertaining and enjoyable read I’d highly recommend.