Christmas at Fairacre: Village Christmas/Christmas Mouse/No Holly for Miss Quinn (The Fairacre Christmas Omnibus) [Hardcover]

Miss Read (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

The people of Fairacre celebrate Christmas in a traditional style which has hardly changed over the generations. Children eagerly hang up their stockings, families go to Church together, and everyone enjoys Christmas cake and other treats of the festive season. From an unexpected visitor on Christmas Eve in "The Christmas Mouse" to an unwanted change of plan in "No Holly For Miss Quinn", Miss Read recounts some of the most memorable Christmas events where often, despite the most careful planning, things do not always go as expected. For heartwarming reading there is no writer to rival Miss Read, and this charming collection of Christmas tales is packed with unforgettable characters, enchanting stories and festive cheer.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"To receive a book by Miss Read in the dead of winter is like coming on a group of purple crocuses in the snow. Or perhaps it's like biting into a tart red apple, because Miss Read is often tart in a gentle sort of way. Her humor is delightful and her quiet style with its simple and innocent content gives proof of the fact that there is still a large audience for the decent book about normanl people." (Chattanooga Times )

"Miss Read is her charming self once more as she spins a delightful tale of ordinary people and ordinary lives in her own extraordinary way. Tuck it under the Christmas tree for someone special." (Publishers Weekly (1976) ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Miss Read was a teacher by profession who started writing after the Second World War. In additional to her novels, she has written on educational and country matters, and worked as a script-writer for the BBC. She lives in Berkshire, and was made an MBE for her services to literature.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752873830
• ISBN-13: 978-0752873831
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,805,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas must read, October 30, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas at Fairacre: Village Christmas/Christmas Mouse/No Holly for Miss Quinn (The Fairacre Christmas Omnibus) (Hardcover)

Houghton Mifflin is releasing one of my all-time favorite books by the beloved Miss Read (pen name for Dora Saint). It's the hardcover version of Christmas at Fairacre. and it's simply delightful. This volume encompasses three of her other novels: No Holly for Miss Quinn, Village Christmas and The Christmas Mouse. No one in the world can write with such love and feeling about English village life like Miss Read.

Miss Read is the schoolmistress in Fairacre, and in this title she shares some of the best and most memorable Christmases of the English countryside. I always say: Miss Read can make polishing the schoolhouse stove exciting. And this volume is no exception.

As anyone knows, even the best laid plans often go awry. And thus it is in Fairacre during the Christmas season.

In Village Christmas we see that all the things about a person, or about in life, that can be seen as different and keep people separate, are really not important in view of the miracle of a Christmas birth. The birth of a little boy.

In The Christmas Mouse finds a visitor arriving on Christmas Eve. It is the meeting between an elderly woman and a young boy that will be long remembered.

In No Holly for Miss Quinn, Miss Quinn is the secretary to a Caxley businessman. She's extremely competent, unsentimental and chooses to spend Christmas without any fuss or family. But an emergency casts a new light on her thoughts of things when Christmas is viewed through the eyes of children. Oh, and there is an unexpected surprise.

And check out the other Miss Read releases by Houghton Mifflin. You'll be thrilled that you did. They are books that never go out of style. Their charm is sometimes because Miss Read writes about a simpler and gentler time. And that gives the reader such satisfaction.

Armchair Interviews says: Christmas at Fairacre is a must read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miss Read, author of Treasures, February 11, 2010

By 

Marion T. Silliman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christmas at Fairacre: "Village Christmas", "Christmas Mouse" and "No Holly for Miss Quinn" (Hardcover)

Miss Read, now 97 years old, has written at least 30 books depicting English life in an era that is fast or has vanished.

Her books sparkle with a robust sense of humor, uncanny descriptions of delightful characters, all woven together with

a philosophy of "love thy neighbor" which is very refreshing in this world of violence and tawdry interests.

Anyone is the better for a session with Miss Read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Read, December 7, 2011

By 

FYI (The West) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas at Fairacre (Hardcover)

"The Christmas Mouse" is a "tail" to read aloud on a cold winter's night: "Behind the row of wallflower plants, close to the bricks of the cottage, scurried the mouse, nose twitching. It ran across the garden path, dived under the cotoneaster bush, scrambled up the mossy step by the disused wall, turned sharp right through the jungle of dried grass behind the garden shed, and streaked, unerringly, to the third hawthorn bush in the hedge. There, at the foot, screened by ground ivy, was its hole. It dived down into the loose sandy earth, snuffling the dear frowsty smell of mouse family and mouse food. Home at last!" - from the 1966 HC, pg 171. This story of a family finding hope and faith, and sharing charity with a mouselike stranger, will delight listeners of all ages.