A Snow Garden and Other Stories

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What to expect

Seven stories to span the Christmas holidays:

A Faraway Smell of Lemon: The School Term has ended. It is almost Christmas but Binny, out last-minute shopping couldn't feel less like wishing glad tidings to all men. Ducking out of the rain she finds herself in the sort of shop she would never normally visit.

The Marriage Manual: Christmas Eve. Two parents endeavour to construct their son’s Christmas present from a DIY kit and in the process find themselves deconstructing their marriage.

Christmas Day at the Airport: A glitch in the system, travellers stranded and all sorts of lives colliding in the face of a sudden birth...

The Boxing Day Ball: Maureen has never been out with the local girls before. Who knew that a disco in the Village Hall could be life-changing?

A Snow Garden: Two little boys, dumped with their divorced father for his share of the Christmas holidays and none of them with a clue how to enjoy it.

I'll Be Home for Christmas The most famous boy in the world comes home hoping to escape the madness with a normal family Christmas.

Trees: As if Christmas wasn't wearing enough, now his elderly parent is asking for a hole in the ground … Father and son break old habits and plant a tree to mark the start of the new year.

Seven stories as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be.

Critics Review

Full of bittersweet Christmas moments. A real gem.
Good Housekeeping
These stories are heartwarming.
Daily Mail
Joyce is warm and very funny, and she has a merciless eye for those nightmare moments when weaknesses are exposed and everything is called into question.
The Times
The perfect tonic for tinsel-itis, [A Snow Garden] is laced with quietly devastating observations on love and marriage.
Observer
As sparkling and Christmassy as a selection box.
Sunday Mirror
Rachel Joyce is one of the most sensitive but forensic archaeologists of everyday life. A Snow Garden is a powerful collection of loosely connected Christmas tales .. acutely observed. As many people reach panic mode, they will be a gentle reminder of what really matters at this time of year.
Sunday Times
Each of these Christmas stories has wit and charm and holds a quirky surprise
Choice Magazine
The perfect tonic for tinsel-itis, it’s laced with quietly devastating observations on love and marriage.
guardian
her first collection of stories; each has a wintry warmth, and the lightness of touch and emotional depth that marks all of Joyce’s work. Need another reason to get hold of it? It’s a beautiful little book, too, perfect to discover under wrapping paper and ribbon
Harper's Bazaar
IF you are on the hunt for a festive read that completely encapsulates the magic of Christmas without even a smidgen of schmaltz then Rachel Joyce’s new collection of short stories is just what you are looking for. These seven tales, which are cleverly interlinked, are set over a two-week period during Christmas and New Year....There is a sprinkling of otherworldliness that gives them a truly magical feel. This is the perfect book to curl up with in front of the fire this Christmas. The stories may be short but the emotional impact lasts long after you’ve finished the last page.
Daily Express

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