A war time Christmas

The last quote in this series comes from Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Her book tells of a young Olympian who is taken as a prisoner of war during World War II. Not only did I choose this passage because of the sentiment within the context of the the book, but also to take a moment to honour those who will be away from their families this Christmas because they are serving their countries.

From page 215 of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

In December 1943, the family prepared to celebrate their first Christmas without Louie. The mailman knocked at the door each day to deliver a harvest of cards and letters, most of them offering sympathy. The holiday tree was strung with popcorn and cranberries, and beneath it sat a collection of gifts for Louie. The gifts would be tucked away in the belief that one day, Louie would come home to open them himself.

Louise bought a little Christmas card depicting a cherub in a red dress blowing a horn as she stood surrounded by lambs. Inside she wrote a message:

Dear Louis. Where ever you are, I know you want us to think of you as well and safe. May God be with you + guide you.Love from all. Mother Dad Pete Sylvia and Virginia. Christmas 25-43

Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer

Murder Comes Home For Christmas

The halls of Lexham Manor were decked with holly, the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and the old Scrooge who owned the estate was stabbed in the upstairs bedroom. For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard 'twas the season to find whodunit. All six holiday guests had a motive to commit murder. But not one of them could have entered the locked room to do it. And Hemingway soon discovered that this time the proof wasn't in the pudding. It was a turkey of a play, a ham performer, and a plum of an inheritance...

Although I consider myself a Georgette Heyer fan the truth is that, till now, I had only read some of her Regencies and Georgian novels. This was my first mystery by her and presents a totally different style. It's a contemporary (it was first published in 1941) whodunit!

Several members of the Herriard family and their friends meet at an english country house to celebrate Christmas. While they all attend, no one seems particularly fond of the others or happy to be spending time in their company. The head-of-the family, and owner of the country house, is a tyrannical old man who doesn't seem to get along with his family members. In fact when he is found dead in a locked room it seems many of them had a reason for murder. Enter Inspector Hemingway and a few fellow policemen to interrogate everyone and solve the case.

Despite loving mysteries, and most of the other Heyer's I've read I have to confess that this was not an easy read. I had some trouble at first remembering all the characters and their relationship with each other and the dead man. Then the characters were disagreeable and quarrelsome, the servants were equally disagreeable and uninteresting and I actually had to force myself to continue reading.

I am glad that I did though because in the end I rather liked the way how Inspector Hemingway found the culprit. I am sorry though that we didn't get to spend more time with him. I like to have a main character that I may like and follow through the story and he was the prime candidate, as the one investigating, but we never get more than a glimpse of his past life.

The final twist with the book connection was quite funny though, it felt the answer was there all along and we were just too blind to see it. And that not everyone was as silly as it seemed.

I do plan to read other Heyer mysteries in the future but I do hope they will be easier reads than this one and with more interesting stories.

Grade: 3/5

Christmas 2011: Quotes from The Empress of Ice Cream by Anthony Capella

One of the fascinating things about reading historical fiction is seeing how differently things that we take for granted now were treated in the past. I found this passage interesting as it is set at the time of the Restoration to the English throne of Charles II, not long after the Commonwealth ended. During this time, the celebrating of holy and feast days associated with the Catholic church was frowned upon, including Christmas.

This passage comes from page 243 of Anthony Capella's The Empress of Ice Cream

I told Elias we would be spending the winter out at Hampton and his face fell.

"What is it, boy?"

He said hesitantly, "It is just that we will  miss Christmas."

"Elias!" his mother said, overhearing. "Christmas! What is this I hear?"

He hung his head in shame. "Some of the other children are saying that it will be a holiday."

Without asking my permission, she whisked him off into a corner. I thought she must be scolding him over his lack of enthusiasm for his work, until I realised that her objection was a different one. She was trying to speak quietly, but anger made her voice carry.

"... bad enought that you work for a papist. But I will not be celebrating papist festivals as well. Now be off with you, and no more talk of Christmas."

and then later....

"You don't celebrate Christmas, I take it?" I said neutrally.

"We do not."

"May I ask the reason?'

"Under the Protector, it was seen that there was no need for it."

"Whereas the Protector's own birthday, no doubt, was a public holiday?"

She glared at me. "Show me where in the Gospels it says that December the twenty-fifth is Christ's birthday, and we will celebrate it. Until then the Sabbath is enough Lord's Day for us."

A Christmas Grace by Anne Perry

With Christmas approaching, Emily Radley, Charlotte’s sister is suddenly called from London to be with her dying aunt.  Alone, she makes the journey to Connemara, on the west coast of Ireland.  A tragic legacy haunts this close-knit community and a lone shipwreck survivor threatens to unlock old wounds, but also to offer a solution to an old crime and bring peace and resolution to the community.

For a couple of years now that Anne Perry's Christmas books have been a favourite read of mine during the Holiday Season. They are historical mysteries, usually featuring characters of her most famous series, and they deal with themes like redemption, forgiveness, love, family bonds... all those feelings usually related to the festive period.

In A Christmas Grace the main character is Emily Radley, Charlotte Pitt's sister (from the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series). Despite looking forward to the Christmas season in London, she finds herself travelling to Connemara in Ireland at the request of  an estranged Aunt who is gravelly ill.

Aunt Susannah leaves in a coastal village and soon Emily gets to meet its few inhabitants. There's a general sense of fear over a coming storm and Emily can't help but wonder why they are so worried. When the storm finally comes there is a shipwreck and only one man is saved. The villagers reaction leaves Emily puzzled until she finds out that 7 years before another ship was wrecked and another man was saved... one that was later murdered by someone from the village... Susannah's request is that Emily discovers who did murder that man 7 years ago so that peace can come to te village once more.

Emily, who had been missing the mysteries she was involved in with her sister in the past, starts her own investigation of who the victim was and what might have lead to his murder. She gets to know the people and their secrets and eventually follows a trail left by Susannah's late husband to know more about what really happened.

Although this was an easy and fast read I have to say that I found it less moving and interesting than previous stories in this same series. The mystery was a bit thin, we don't get to know the victim very well, there was little suspense involved and in the end it felt a bit unresolved. Perry's description of the scenery was ver interesting but the characters never really came alive. I think there should have been more about Aunt Susannah, her past with her husband and something about the celebration of Christmas.

Grade: 3/5

Gilding Walnuts from Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Over the course of this year I have been collecting various Christmas themed quotes and have been posting them at my own blog as part of the Virtual Advent tour that Kelly and I run each year.

This week, at Historical Tapestry, we are celebrating Christmas with a few of these quotes, plus a couple of reviews of historical mysteries that are Christmas themed. We hope that you enjoy our themed posts for this week.

We wish all of our readers a very happy and safe festive season.

The first of these quotes comes from Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. By way of introduction, our main character Emily is a young English woman who finds herself living in Russia during the era of the Napoleonic wars.

Gilding walnuts from page 156-157 

One evening, after Yenchik and Zansha were in bed, Mamka brought a basket of walnuts and a bowl of milk into the drawing room and put them down on the table.

‘These are the best, barina,” she said to Natasha. “I’ve sorted them out myself. All the shells are nice and clean and smooth.”

“Ah, good. Stay and help us, Mamka – you have the best touch. Yenya, Emilia, come and sit at the table.”

Yenya brought a lighted candle, a stick of sealing wax, and some green wool cut into lengths, and Natasha fetched from her bureau some little paper booklets about two inches square.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked, taking her place beside Tolya.

“We’re going to gild the nuts,” he answered, surprised. “Haven’t you ever done it before? I’ll show you, then.”

Each booklet contained twenty thin leaves of pure gold with cigarette paper between them, each leaf so delicate it made the cigarette paper look thick and coarse by comparison.

“To get it out you have to blow on it, like this. Look,” Tolya said. He blew gently, and the almost weightless leaf lifted free of the paper with a faint rustling sound. “Your hands have to be clean, and dry, or the gold comes off on your fingers.”

“Like the bloom on a butterfly’s wings,” Emily said, trying it for herself.

Each nut had to be dipped in the milk, then carefully wrapped in the gold leaf. When they were dry, the two ends of a strand of wool were placed on top of the nut and sealed down with a drop of molten wax to make a loop.

“They’re so beautiful,” Emily said. Gold paint would have been nothing to it, a dull meagre imitation. These nuts shone with all the lustre of pure gold, like little suns, like tiny church cupolas. “What are they for?”

“For hanging on the Christmas tree,” Tolya said, all amazement at her ignorance. You must have seen a Christmas tree before.”

And then from page 160

Before her was the first Christmas tree she had ever seen, stretching right up to the ceiling, ablaze with light, a beautiful, glorious thing against the darkness of the room. It was decorated with the gilded nuts she had helped to make, which shone with the soft brilliance of true gold; with small, polished bell-shaped Christmas apples; with little nets of sweets wrapped in shining foil; with crystal icicles and snowflakes, and silver bells. On the top was a fairy dressed in silver tinsel with a diamond crown: and everything seemed to shimmer in the light from the candles which trembled on the ends of the branches, making a cascade of light, layer upon layer of quivering flames, each surround with its own golden halo.