“I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”

 

Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D.

December, 1843.

 

Was there ever a better start to a Christmas story? Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol  transports us to a cold Victorian London, where the poor, but warm hearted, Cratchit family and their crippled son Tiny Tim are desperate to enjoy a little festive cheer despite the best efforts of a penny pinching scrooge who seems set to ruin everyone’s festivities. Bah Humbug!

 

Thank goodness the spirits of Christmas past, present and future arrive to show Ebenezer Scrooge the error of his ways….

 

You can contemplate the wider social themes of the novella, or consider it’s contemporary relevance – American scholar Michael Levin argued that Scrooge is “an entrepreneur whose ideas and practices benefit his employees, society at large, and himself.” 

 

Or you can just do what I’ll be doing – eating a mince pie, losing myself in the old-fashioned streets of London (surely the best city in the world for Christmas stories?) and wallowing in some sentiment. Enjoy!

 

You can download A Christmas Carol free from the Kindle store and use the Amazon Kindle app to read it. Or buy an illustrated edition.