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Original poster

Literary/well written fiction with a Christmas/winter theme

41 replies

CassandraWebb · 17/11/2025 13:51

I 'd really welcome suggestions, partly for me. Partly for gifts for family.

Nothing too dark/traumatic as Christmas is a tricky time for me for various reasons but I would also like some really well written /thoughtful books that make me feel festive

OP posts:

Original poster

CassandraWebb · 01/12/2025 22:15

@JustOneMoreChapter thank you for your Trollope recommendation. I found Christmas at Thompson hall as a standalone book. Free I think on my kindle. It's brilliant, and not at all what I expected but I enjoyed it so much - truly festive as well. A real gem!

OP posts:

Original poster

CassandraWebb · 01/12/2025 22:12

mimbleandlittlemy · 01/12/2025 20:08

The Tenderness of Wolves by Steph Penney
The Three Pines series by Louise Penny

PPs have suggested The Snow Child. I really enjoyed her next novel To The Bright Edge of the World.

Music and Silence by Rose Tremain - set in Denmark in the winter

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson - helps if you have read the other Jackson Brodie books.

Thank you! Will look these up
I really enjoyed the Jackson Brodie books I read them all this summer

OP posts:

mimbleandlittlemy · 01/12/2025 20:08

The Tenderness of Wolves by Steph Penney
The Three Pines series by Louise Penny

PPs have suggested The Snow Child. I really enjoyed her next novel To The Bright Edge of the World.

Music and Silence by Rose Tremain - set in Denmark in the winter

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson - helps if you have read the other Jackson Brodie books.

Original poster

CassandraWebb · 25/11/2025 21:26

Scout2016 · 25/11/2025 20:56

A Snow Garden and Other Stories by Rachel Joyce is really enjoyable. Short stories set around Christmas and with a common thread running through.

Oh this sounds good, I enjoy her books!

OP posts:

Scout2016 · 25/11/2025 20:56

A Snow Garden and Other Stories by Rachel Joyce is really enjoyable. Short stories set around Christmas and with a common thread running through.

Ginflinger · 24/11/2025 21:11

Agree with all pp who suggested The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper. Ostensibly a children's book but it's brilliant.

TappaMcFeety · 24/11/2025 20:55

MaryasBible · 22/11/2025 20:30

I love The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. Starts with The Bear and the Nightingale. I’ll be re reading come December.

Agreed!

Pozz · 24/11/2025 19:38

Useyourfork · 20/11/2025 14:59

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChsSEwiGrp-T_oCRAxV2m1AGHaNSB5cYACICCAEQGBoCZGc&co=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhq6fk_6AkQMVdptQBh2jUgeXEAQYAiABEgKDJ_D_BwE&sph=&sig=AOD64_1LOM6XA9g1D-ymQ1B2IO2Pg_0Opw&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwi09JmT_oCRAxVxW0EAHSDECQMQwg8oAHoECAoQGg&adurl=

Its a bit surreal but I couldn’t put at down.
Its about a young girl who travels to find the origins of the Christmas story.

This looks wonderful @useyourfork

MaryasBible · 22/11/2025 20:30

I love The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. Starts with The Bear and the Nightingale. I’ll be re reading come December.

Useyourfork · 20/11/2025 14:59

Its a bit surreal but I couldn’t put at down.
Its about a young girl who travels to find the origins of the Christmas story.

Amazon.co.uk

https://www.google.com/aclk?adurl=&ai=DChsSEwiGrp-T_oCRAxV2m1AGHaNSB5cYACICCAEQGBoCZGc&co=1&ctype=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhq6fk_6AkQMVdptQBh2jUgeXEAQYAiABEgKDJ_D_BwE&q=&sa=L&sig=AOD64_1LOM6XA9g1D-ymQ1B2IO2Pg_0Opw&sph=&ved=2ahUKEwi09JmT_oCRAxVxW0EAHSDECQMQwg8oAHoECAoQGg

LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand · 20/11/2025 08:23

I love A Child's Christmas in Wales, and the line is evocative of Christmas and spookiness.
"Bring out the tall tales now as we sit by the fire".
Definitely The Dark is Rising.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase which is a children's book but good.
The box of delights by John Masefield is set at Christmas. Again a children's book but good

zaxxon · 20/11/2025 08:13

If you like Golden Age mysteries, one of the best and wintriest is The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr. So atmospheric

Bookclubaddict · 20/11/2025 08:01

Murder Most Haunted. Really easy read and very funny!

ChessieFL · 20/11/2025 06:16

Try Mr Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

Littlepolkadots · 18/11/2025 20:48

I really enjoyed Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak.

FayKnights · 18/11/2025 19:17

Lollipop Shoes - Joanne Harris is excellent for a Wintery feel, it starts around Halloween and moves into Christmas.

Lots of lovely recommendations above 🎄

Sheeppig · 18/11/2025 19:12

weegiemum · 17/11/2025 22:07

The Winter Book by Tove Jansson.

Moominland Midwinter (children’s book but incredibly atmospheric) by the same author.

Can't believe I didn't suggest these- I'm a huge Tove Jansson fan. I agree, Moominland Midwinter is a wonderfully evocative book which perfectfully captures the magic of a familiar landscape transformed by snow.
Would Moominvalley in November also count? Such a gentle, melancholy tale of different characters waiting for the Moomins to return home...

OneBookTooMany · 18/11/2025 18:54

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett is a good romp and I second @bluegreygreen suggestion of British Library Crime Classics. Lots of them are set at Christmas, they're beautifully produced and whisk you back to a Golden Age!

On those lines, British Library Women Writers Series have published Stories for Christmas, including writers such as E,M Delafield, Elizabeth von Armin and Beryl Bainbridge. I was bought this last year and enjoyed it.

JaninaDuszejko · 18/11/2025 12:54

Lots of good recommendations already

A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon (cozy crime)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Penguin Classics have a collection of all his Christmas Stories)
The Box of Delights by John Masefield (children's classic)
The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston (children's classic)
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (time travel but the historical story line takes place at the time of the Black Death so you might not want to read if you want to avoid anything upsetting)
The Inn at the Edge of the World by Alice Thomas Ellis (literary fiction)
Christmas Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
And So This is Christmas by Brian Bilston (also poetry)

bluegreygreen · 17/11/2025 23:17

If you like crime fiction, the British Library Crime Classics series has a few Christmas-y ones (golden age detective fiction). A couple are short stories but at least one is a full length mystery.

Another wintery / Christmas theme book is The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

newrubylane · 17/11/2025 22:51

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. It's not dark, but a bit sad in parts.

Cadenza12 · 17/11/2025 22:48

I've just finished Murder at Mistletoe Manor and surprisingly enjoyed it. It's well written and not gory, just a good whodunnit with snow. I did actually buy it as a gift but couldn't resist it.

JustOneMoreChapter · 17/11/2025 22:45

CassandraWebb · 17/11/2025 22:41

Good reminder! I saw this in a book shop and really wanted it but was on a book buying ban so limited myself to only two and then forgot the name!

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Both of these are lovely.

Original poster

CassandraWebb · 17/11/2025 22:41

weegiemum · 17/11/2025 22:07

The Winter Book by Tove Jansson.

Moominland Midwinter (children’s book but incredibly atmospheric) by the same author.

Good reminder! I saw this in a book shop and really wanted it but was on a book buying ban so limited myself to only two and then forgot the name!

OP posts:

pinkspeakers · 17/11/2025 22:09

The Snow Child

Beautiful book. Very atmospheric, slightly fairly tale like. But it's wintry rather than festive.

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