Judith @ Reader in the Wilderness has been looking at some Christmas books, this is one which I sometimes read to try to get me in the mood, maybe not a classic Dickens but worth reading if you’re into Christmas or Dickens.
Charles Dickens generally gets the kudos for inventing or reviving many of our Christmas traditions, if you want to read a bit more about his attitude to the festival have a look here. Apparently Christmas trees don’t feature in any of his Christmas books, I wouldn’t know because Dickens is one Victorian novelist whom I avoid. In fact the only thing of his which I’ve got to the end of is his wee story A Christmas Tree. I have a nice illustrated copy of it, which like many of my books is packed away at the moment.
It’s a very quick read, a bit odd in that it also features ghosts, or maybe that’s a normal feature of a Dickens Christmas, anyway, if like me you can only stomach a teeny bit of Dickens, I admit it’s because I feel so appalled at his treatment of his poor wife that I don’t read him, so judgemental of me I know!
Anyway, I love Christmas trees and as I recall, it’s his description of the tree which I enjoyed in this short story, the things which were decorating it, including a mask which he was scared of. You can read it here.
