If you are new to An Historian About Town, you may not know my Christmas Eve traditions. (Also, welcome!) Every December 24th, I spend the day reading. I set aside a book to specifically read that day. Of course there is tea and cookies to go with it, but the book is the main show. So, I’ve come to enlist my lovely readers’ help in choosing my book each year, because I can never decide. I’ve got the books below and why they are on the short list. Once you’ve read them, please cast your vote for my 2020 Christmas Eve Reading plans!
Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, Jennifer Kloester
Immerse yourself in the resplendent glow of Regency England and the world of Georgette Heyer…
From the fascinating slang, the elegant fashions, the precise ways the bon ton ate, drank, danced, and flirted, to the shocking real life scandals of the day, Georgette Heyer’s Regency World takes you behind the scenes of Heyer’s captivating novels.
As much fun to read as Heyer’s own novels, beautifully illustrated, and meticulously researched, Jennifer Kloester’s essential guide brings the world of the Regency to life for Heyer fans and Jane Austen fans alike.
Like many people (including some of you), I cannot wait for Bridgerton on 25th December. I have read the whole Bridgerton series in the last few months to get ready for it, and from everything we are seeing from Netflix, it looks incredible. If you haven’t read any of them, they are a Regency romance series. And with Georgette Heyer being the queen of Regency romances, there are several guides to Heyer’s Regency world. Given how excited I am for Bridgerton, this is very high on my list. (And yes, I have read other guides on the Regency but you always learn something new!)
Russian Winter, Daphne Kalotay
When she decides to auction her remarkable jewellery collection, Nina Revskaya, once a great star of the Bolshoi Ballet, believes she has drawn a curtain on her past. Instead she finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland and of the events that changed the course of her life half a century before.
It was in Russia that she discovered the magic of the theatre; that she fell in love with the poet Viktor Elsin; that she and her dearest companions, Gersh, a dangerously irreverent composer, and the exquisite Vera became victims of Stalinist aggression. And it was in Russia where a terrible discovery led to a deadly act of betrayal.
Now living in Boston, Nina has hidden her dark secrets for half a lifetime. But two people will not let the past rest: Drew Brooks, an inquisitive young associate director at the Boston auction house; and Grigori Solodin, a Russian professor who believes that a unique set of amber jewels may hold the key to his own ambiguous past. Together, these unlikely partners find themselves unravelling a literary mystery whose answers will hold life-changing consequences for them all.
I’ve been looking at this book for a while, as I love anything to do with Russia and with ballet, and we’ve got both here! However, I’m not sure that this is a strong pick for this year’s Christmas Eve reading plans, because I read a Russian mystery type book last year. (If you are curious, it was Olga’s Egg.) It also might be a tad depressing to read on this particular Christmas Eve, given how bizarre and difficult this year has been. Still, I wanted to at least include a darker book on the short list.
The Little Bookshop of Love Stories, Jamie Admans
Today is the Mondayest Monday ever. Hallie Winstone has been fired – and it wasn’t even her fault!
Having lost her job and humiliated herself in front of a whole restaurant full of diners, this is absolutely, one hundred percent, the worst day of her life.
That is until she receives an email announcing that she is the lucky winner of the Once Upon a Page Bookshop!
Owning a bookshop has always been Hallie’s dream, and when she starts to find secret love letters on the first pages of every book, she knows she’s stumbled across something special.
Things get even better when she meets gorgeous, bookish Dimitri and between them, they post a few of the hidden messages online, reuniting people who thought they were lost forever.
But maybe it’s time for Hallie to find her own happy-ever-after, too?
This is the exact opposite of a dark Russian mystery, haha. I read my first book by Jaimie Admans in October, when I read her new book, The Christmas Shop on Nutcracker Lane. And I will completely admit, I fell head over heels for it. (It will definitely be an annual re-read.) This book isn’t Christmas themed, but I don’t really need that for this. (I will be in front of the Christmas tree in a Christmas sweater, I’ve got the festive part covered!) Winning a bookshop is a dream for many of us, I suspect, and it would be lovely to dream about it after a whole year of postponing and cancelling things. This is definitely the lightest option!
A Christmas Party, Georgette Heyer
It is no ordinary Christmas at Lexham Manor.
Six holiday guests find themselves the suspects in a murder inquiry when the old Scrooge who owns the substantial estate is found stabbed in the back.
Whilst the delicate matter of inheritance could be the key to this crime, the real conundrum is how any of the suspects could have entered the locked room where the victim was found, to commit this foul deed.
For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, the investigation is also complicated by the fact that every guest at Lexham Manor is hiding something – casting suspicion far and wide…
Speaking of Georgette Heyer, I have been eyeing up this book for a while. I shamefully must admit that I’ve not actually read any Heyer yet. It’s on tap for January but if I read this, I can get a head start. Although it doesn’t take place during the Regency (it takes place in the Christmas of 1938 or 1939), it is supposed to be a fantastic mystery. Is there anything better than a country house mystery for the holidays? I know many people whose Christmas Eve reading plans include a festive mystery, and it might be time to try it.
Please cast a vote for my 2020 Christmas Eve reading choices and let me know if you have read any of these!
Cheers,
The Historian
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