These long winter nights and cold, grey mornings always fill me with dread as they approach. It can be hard to feel uplifted when the sun refuses to show its face and your feet are so cold that you wear at least two pairs of fluffy socks to bed. A good bookis an excellent remedy, if not for the physical warmth but for the cosy feelings reading imparts (and a hot chocolate does not go amiss either!)
The book on my shelves that immediately stands out when I think of winter and the holiday season is Agatha Christie’s The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding. It is such a fun collection of short stories, and while only the first one is strictly Christmas related, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple never fail to make any mystery cosy and strangely comforting. The first story, lending its name to the title of the collection, introduces the fastidious Poirot once more, as he endeavours to solve a classic English country house murder, only this time with the added pressure of Christmas festivities, and a sinister note regarding the plum pudding.
Moving on to another Christmas classic, I cannot recommend books for winter reading without including Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. A heart-warming story about the true values of Christmas, this is an excellent introduction to Dickens as it is so short. I advise you to get cosy, help yourself to a steaming mug of hot chocolate and devour it in a day. Originally published on the 19th of December 1843, it had completely sold out by Christmas Eve! For me, it is Christmas personified (literally inthe form of the second ghost!), with the warmth of the Cratchits’ home providing a cosy contrast to the dark dreary night outside. The plot is simple but endearing; Ebeneezer Scrooge is a miserly old businessman who despises anything to do with Christmas. On Christmas Eve he is visited by three ghosts, who representChristmases Past, Present and Future respectively. Scrooge is taken on an enlightening journey to learn from his mistakes and embrace the spirit of Christmas once more. Not only is it a lovely story capturing the magic of Christmastime, it is also a great social commentary on class and poverty in the Victorian era, which sadly still resonates today.
Next on my winter books list is Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I first read this at eleven years old but its wonderful winter imagery and fascinating, multi-layered plot has always stayed with me. The captivating tale tells the story of Lyra, an eleven-year-old girl who has grown up in Jordan College, Oxford, in a fictional world similar but more fantastical than our own. We follow Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon on an epic journey as they set out to find her missing friend Roger and her mysterious uncle Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with an unknown substance called ‘Dust’. I remember identifying strongly with Lyra’s struggle to know who to trust in world full of hostile adults, while being fascinated by the imposing magisterium, a masterful allegory of the oppressive nature of organised religion. Most of all, Lyra’s journey leads us through wonderful polar landscapes, full of magical witches, bears and hot-air balloons. Northern Lights is the perfect book to curl up with on a slow winter’s day, maybe with a bowl of warming soup on the side, but don’t be fooled by its child protagonist, this is a book that transcends age and offers something very special to anyone who reads it.
Carrying on the icy theme is another of my childhood favourites, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken. Set in an alternative history of England, we follow the adventures of Bonnie and Sylvia, two cousins who find themselves oppressed by their evil governess Miss Slighcarp, and vie to escape. Their surroundings are haunted by wolves, who have migrated from the bitter cold of Europe and Russia into Britain and terrorise the inhabitants of rural areas. Wolves is a lovely tale of the bond between two girls and the wintery atmosphere created by the much colder alternative England makes for the perfect nostalgic read.
Moving away from the cosy and into the bleaker aspects of winter, we have War and Peace. The length of Tolstoy’s masterpiece may be off-putting but his prose is surprisingly easy to read and flows gorgeously. You really become caught up in the multitude of characters and their problems, all set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic invasion. Of course, this being a 19thcentury Russian novel, you can’t move for frost and snow! From Prince Andrei and Count Nicholas battling frostbite on the battlefield, to the Rostovs’ lavish Christmas celebrations in their country house, not to mention the sleighs the families use to traverse the thick layers of snow. I have never read a novel so immersive or one that allowed me to feel so many emotions all at once, from joy for the marriages to despair at the sudden deaths, and the winter setting just serves to heighten the intensity of it all. This is definitely a book to savour, when you are blessed with time to sit and do nothing but immerse yourself in a great story.
Last on my list is A Doll’s House, the 1879 play by Norwegian Playwright Henrik Ibsen. This is a wonderous short play in three acts and tells the story of Nora, a housewife and mother who struggles with the constraints of married life and the fact that as a woman she had no financial freedom herself. She is constantly belittled and patronised by her husband Torvald, who sees her only as his ideal version of a woman; pretty, airy, and completely dependent on him, emotionally and financially. Though this is a depressing situation, we can’t help but root for Nora to let go completely of the social expectations of the time that tie her to Torvald, while also reflecting on the impossible situation she is put into. The only way for her to obtain her freedom is to leave her adored children behind, a heartbreaking choice that still resonates today as we grapple with the question of how a woman can look after her children and have financial freedom? Christmas scenes feature heavily in the play, with Nora spending time decorating the tree and wrapping presents for the children. The Norwegian setting emphasises the winter feeling and who can resist reading a play with such a cosy, hygge atmosphere?
I hope these books provide some comfort and warmth over the holidays, and maybe you will discover a new favourite!