Hello booklovers, To add to the already riveting conversational topics with which I bore my friends and family throughout the year, I am particularly fascinating at Christmas. I know a great deal about the story behind the bringing in of the Yule log; the history of the Christmas tree; where the plum is in the […]

Hello booklovers, On the 7th day of Advent, we give those needing an escape from all this merriment a tale from one of our most prestigious crime writers, P. D. James. The Mistletoe Murder is a wonderfully self aware collection of four short crime stories with a festive theme threaded through each. The eponymous The Mistletoe Murder is a […]

Hello booklovers, There appears to be an inadvertent feline theme to this year’s festival Advent calendar – we will try and introduce some other species into the mix at some point, but for now it seems that cats are winning the day. Which brings me to a certain literary cat whose antics usually involve her […]

Hello booklovers, Two stories for the price of one today. Rumer Godden wrote so beautifully, and was a particular favourite of mine, as a child. Her tales set at Christmas are a particular joy. The Fairy Doll and The Story of Holly and Ivy feature two small girls and two dolls, none of whom are […]

Hello booklovers, Behind Advent door number four, we bring you a story which, whilst not necessarily classed as a piece of Christmas literature, certainly has its festive associations. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first tale in The Chronicles of Narnia, tells the story of the four Pevensie siblings, Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund. Evacuated from London […]

Hello booklovers, At this time of year, I am reminded of a conversation that took place over 30 years ago, between my mother and my soon to be father in law. Reminiscences about their respective childhoods revealed a shared Christmas experience. In the late 1940s, young Ken and even younger Dorothy were both glued to […]

Hello booklovers, Behind Advent door number two you will find a family literary favourite – Cat in the Manger by Michael Foreman. This sweet story involves a rather grumpy mog who frequents a manger in a stable. From the offset it is clear that this particular feline is not keen on anything disrupting his cosy set- up, […]

Hello booklovers, Welcome to December 1st, and to the first entry to our 2019 Felixstowe Book Festival Advent Calendar. It seems fitting to begin with one of the most well known and well loved stories of Christmas, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A moral tale of such brilliance, emphasised by its many adaptations and retellings […]

Hello booklovers, I hope you are all well and sufficiently stocked up with some literary delights to get your teeth into. The comfort and distraction provided by reading seem sorely needed seeing as we’ve reached that point in November where the nights are drawing in, the leaves are slowly disappearing from the trees and the […]

Hello booklovers, I can’t believe it is November already. 2019 has whizzed by… and speaking of whizzing (and fizzing!) of the firework variety… Remember, remember the fifth of November… Whilst personally I find the tale of the gunpowder plot quite gruesome, at least it gives us the excuse for a chilly evening spent with friends […]