‘A unique collection of stories that warm the heart but avoids sentimentality. Wit and humour sparkles in the stories.’ Lady Bracknell.
As the festive season approaches, I have been looking for books that capture the Christmas spirit. My concentration levels have suffered recently so I have found short stories to be the perfect escape. It is wonderful to read a complete story each night. Having discovered ‘A Feast of Christmas Stories’, I asked Patricia Feinberg Stoner, contributing author and editor of the anthology, to capture the essence of the magical collection.
With the nights getting darker and longer, and Christmas approaching fast, it’s time to seek out books to curl up with by the fire. ‘A Feast of Christmas Stories’ is an anthology of seasonal tales with a Sussex flavour, produced by the authors’ network Chindi.
In this book of sixteen short stories you will find something to please every taste, with contributions from best-selling authors such as Beryl Kingston, Carol Thomas and Angela Petch, as well as less well-known but no less accomplished writers.
If ghosts are your thing, sample ‘Moon Shadows’ by Bruce Macfarlane, ‘Stranger on the Shore’ by Angela Petch, and ‘Tiny Tim and the Glittery Reindeer’ by Christopher Joyce. If you prefer dragons, take a look at Christmas through the eyes of the Knucker, a local beast who’s a lot less fierce than his reputation suggests.
Alan Readman’s ‘Side by Side’ and Phil Clinker’s ‘Christmas Repeats’ are set in very different eras and locations, but both will have you reaching for the tissues.
Two sisters feature in two very different tales. The many fans of Beryl Kingston’s novels will love ‘The First Christmas of the War’, a poignant tale of sibling rivalry, while ‘Pudding’ by Lexi Rees is a truly feel-good story with a succulent Sussex Pond Pudding at its heart.
What would Christmas be without presents? Maralyn Green and Susanne Haywood have very different takes on the subject. Susanne’s heart-warming ‘The Gift’ reminds us that Santa so often goes unappreciated, but ‘The Christmas Present’ by Maralyn Green – easily the sauciest story in the book – suggests an indulgence every lady of a certain age might hope to find in her stocking.
For a taste of crime at Christmas, look no further than Peter Bartram’s ‘The Mystery of the Phantom Santa’. Peter is the author of the much-loved ‘Crampton of the Chronicle’ series of cosy mysteries, featuring Colin Crampton, intrepid crime reporter. In the final story of the book, Colin is desperate to find a news story on Christmas Eve which doesn’t involve elves and mistletoe and Santas. With strange goings-on in the alleyway, Colin’s reporter’s nose soon detects that the stranger in the fur-trimmed, scarlet-hooded cloak is no merry bringer of gifts for children. Suffice it to say, Crampton gets his story.
At Home in the Pays d’Oc made me giggle, and I was delighted to experience more divine comedy in a bundle of short stories. Do you fancy a tipple of laughter? I can thoroughly recommend ‘Tales from the Pays d’Oc’ – what a treat!
Patricia’s Tales from the Pays d’Oc are tasty morsels of France spiced with other cultures. I peeped into the worlds of Morbignan and St Remy les Cevennes via Patricia’s giggling goggles and it appealed to my nosy nature. How I enjoyed the ‘babble of accents’ from: French, Dutch, German, Swedish and English inhabitants. The ‘gossip fest’ tempted me throughout the stories. Amusing and poignant observations are thrown in for good measure. For instance, I learned that ‘serious drinking won’t begin for an hour’ at ten o’clock.
Story: The Poet, the Thief and the Indian Prawn. Snatched the prawn from his plate almost in mid-air and hit the ground running
Oh, how I waited impatiently, in the café, for the news. Who was dead? What happened? I even found myself adding details and was taught a naughty lesson. Gossip was the only temptation to move me away from the market. I drooled as ‘the fruit stalls spilled a cornucopia of cherries and strawberries and peaches, their scents voluptuous and enticing in the heat.’
I may have also been tempted by the character of Karl who is personified by the ‘big, butch vehicle’. Hilarious! Alas, we owned one of those ‘high – falutin’ ‘Bland Rovers’, so he may not have approved. The ending of the story made me laugh and laugh. Patricia blends the humour so skilfully that I am in awe – again!
Story: Oops! The nearside front wheel slithered into thin air and they lurched to a stop.
Armageddon Falls carried me along the flow of the narrative. The author is skilled at building simple details of the characters, hinting at conflict and absorbing the reader in the dialogue. She manages to demonstrate how people would bemuse the French inhabitants. I felt certain the author would teach the Americans a lesson. How can an artist declare, ‘when you’ve seen one vine, you’ve seen them all’?
All the characters are vibrant, and I love the way the style of each story reflects the personalities. Sheer genius in every single morsel of these bite size temptations. The enigma of the ‘boy in the pool’ is beautifully conveyed. Who is he? The mystery of the summer visitor combined with the mystery of the boy in the pool is brilliant.
Story: A-sitting on a Bench Sitting on the bench they have their measure of the place, but don’t expect to gossip with this crowd if you are ‘anglais’
The dog named ‘Useless’ who becomes a Greek goddess is great. I loved this dog! Moreover, I wanted to eat the truffle omelette on my snow-covered patio. Indeed, animals are also wonderful, intelligent characters in the collection of stories.
Let’s not forget the eccentric French characters who throw themselves into: truffle hunting, boar hunting, village fetes, food, parties’ wine and, of course, amorous liaisons. French culture is explored, dissected and presented on a plate. The villagers are stubborn and reluctant to change but sometimes surprise you. There are amusing, everyday incidents, but as you weave in and out of the characters’ lives, you get to meet them several times. The ‘good ol’ boys’ are a constant presence throughout the stories. Sitting on the bench they have their measure of the place, but don’t expect to gossip with this crowd if you are ‘anglais’ like Henry or even a Parisienne. You could listen to Josephine, the town crier, and find out how she is taught a lesson. Perhaps you’d like to join the Saturday Club to discover why the ‘swing doors flung open, and on a roar of “Ou est -il donc?”’ Has Kiki been up to his ‘old tricks’ or are you in the middle of a western? Beware of the raging woodman! Admire, the author’s wonderful turn of phrase and stand back when Paulette grabs ‘a fistful of blonde hair with a struggling, protesting eighteen-year-old attached.’ Discover how Patricia manages to rub a little salt into the wounded pride of the various characters. No one escapes her witty observation.
Story: Cheeky ‘… and don’t come back!’
Morsels of Morbignan are ‘tres amusant’. Each story made me declare: ‘Ah, or ‘Je vois’ or ‘oh la la’. The author transported me over the English Channel and made me think in schoolgirl French (minus the accents). Desperate for the denouement of each tale, I burnt a stew, but it was an excuse to open a bottle of French wine. These stories would make a perfect Sunday evening TV series.
Cheers, Patricia! I can’t wait for more tempting morsels.
About Patricia
Patricia Feinberg Stoner began her career as a graduate trainee with the Liverpool Daily Post.
Quickly discovering she was a terrible reporter, she switched to feature writing and since then her career has revolved around the written word, as a journalist, advertising copywriter and publicist. For many years she was international press officer for Granada Television, leaving to set up her own publicity business, The Good Word.
Once a dyed-in-the-wool Londoner, Patricia now lives in West Sussex with her husband Patrick, also a writer. She is a member of CHINDI independent authors.
Her first book, ‘Paw Prints in the Butter’, is a collection of humorous verse about cats, sold in aid of WADARS, a local animal rescue charity. She followed this with ‘At Home in the Pays d’Oc’ which, she says, is the story of two accidental expatriates in the south of France. The book won a Five Star Book Award from One Stop Fiction.
November 2017 saw the publication of Patricia’s third book – ‘The Little Book of Rude Limericks’. Despite the title, she warns that not all of the limericks in the book are rude: in fact, some are perfectly polite. However, there are exceptions.
Her latest book revisits the Languedoc with a collection of short stories: ‘Tales from the Pays d’Oc‘. In its pages you will discover what Matthieu was doing in the olive tree, who stole the Indian prawn and who rescued two hapless Americans at Armageddon Falls.
