Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a reread of Louisa May Alcott’s classic. Set in 1860s New England, Little Women is a bildungsroman chronicling the lives of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Loosely based on Alcott’s own life, the story begins on Christmas Eve, with Jo and Meg grumbling about the family’s genteel poverty, and goes on to depict a life of hardship, resilience, sisterhood and self-actualisation, against the backdrop of the American Civil War. (Puffin Clothbound Classics, €10.15)
The Green Road by Anne Enright
“I am sorry. I cannot invite you home for Christmas because I am Irish and my family is mad.” One of the best novels from Booker Prize winner Enright, is this family saga set in the run-up to Christmas, 2005. Moving through the separate perspectives of each of four grown-up siblings, the narrative leads towards a final Christmas reunion in the west-of-Ireland home their mother is about to sell. Enright’s depiction of a boom-time Christmas Eve food shop, trolley laden with delicacies, is one of the most frighteningly accurate you will read. (Vintage, €11.59)
Dubliners by James Joyce
All the stories in Joyce’s masterly collection are must reads but it is the final novella-length work, The Dead, that brings forth that uncanny Christmas ache. Set on January 6th – the feast of the Epiphany, or Women’s Christmas – it paints a bustling winter gathering hosted by two spinster aunts, and zeros in on a memory that exposes a rift in the relationship between Gabriel Conroy and his wife, Greta. The closing images of snow “falling softly” and “softly falling” over Ireland, are among the most beautiful and beloved in all of literature. (Penguin Modern Classics, €4.99)
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Keegan’s short but powerful tour-de-force is set in New Ross, Co Wexford, in the lead-up to Christmas 1985. The heightened atmosphere of the season elevates the tension in this story about a coal merchant who discovers a desperate young mother in a convent coal shed and is torn over what to do. There is reference within it to Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, as well as subtle nods to the Nativity. (Faber & Faber, €8.99)
This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy
Arguably, all of Binchy’s novels make perfect companions for cosy afternoons by the fire, but in 1995 the cherished author put together a collection of explicitly Christmas-themed stories. In settings across Ireland, England, the US and Australia, we encounter step-families grappling with exes, married couples facing in-law issues, children caught in grown-up tugs of war, and more. The heightened emotions of the festive season make for ripe Binchy territory. (Orion, €11.60)
[ Rereading Maeve Binchy — as loved and relevant as everOpens in new window ]
‘Twas the Night before Christmas by Clement C Moore, illustrated by PJ Lynch
The 19th century verse A Visit from St Nicholas, more commonly known by its opening line, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, is credited to the American writer, Clement Clarke Moore, who reputedly wrote it on a snowy winter’s day on his sleigh. It richly evokes the stillness and anticipation of Christmas Eve and is said to be responsible for much of what we now associate with Santa and his reindeer. Irish illustrator PJ Lynch brings the setting to life in a beautiful edition produced by publisher Walker. (Walker, €8.99)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A list of books that evoke the festive spirit would not be complete without the book that effectively invented Christmas. The Dickens classic tells of the miserly Scrooge, who is warned by his dead business partner, Marley, that unless he becomes less greedy and self-serving he will be condemned to wander the Earth weighed down by heavy chains. Enter the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, through which he learns to change his ways. (Puffin Clothbound Classics, €18.85)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss
“Every Who down in Whoville loved Christmas a lot ... but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville did NOT!” Another classic Christmas grump, the Grinch has a heart two sizes too small, hates Whoville’s festive celebrations and plans to steal all the presents and stop Christmas from coming. The iconic children’s story from 1957 is quintessential Dr Seuss, with its wordplay and wit. (HarperCollins, €11.60)
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