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    A Proper Family Christmas
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    A Proper Family Christmas
    Unavailable
    A Proper Family Christmas
    Ebook325 pages3 hours

    A Proper Family Christmas

    By Jane Gordon-Cumming

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Wickedly funny, this Christmas house party is both a delight and a horrible warning.' Katie Fforde William really isn't into Christmas - all the jingly tinselly presenty stuff makes him feel queasy. He'd like to spend it alone in his vast old house with his cat. But Haseley House could be a goldmine in the right hands - and William's relatives want to make sure it does end up in the right hands! Hilary intends to ignore Christmas. With Daniel away, she won't have to conceal how desperately she still misses Ben. But widows aren't allowed to spend Christmas alone, and it sounds as if William might need her support. Frances, the nanny, was hoping for a break from spoilt little Tobias, but now she's told they're to stay with his eccentric grandfather in some spooky old house. Can Hilary possibly be having feelings for another man? Will Frances overcome the snobbery threatening to separate her and Daniel? This particular family Christmas is going to change everybody's lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAccent Press
    Release dateNov 10, 2015
    ISBN9781682991244
    Unavailable
    A Proper Family Christmas
    Author

    Jane Gordon-Cumming

    Jane was brought up in Wimbledon, but spent most of her adult life in Oxford, and she and her husband now live in Minchinhampton in the Cotswolds, near her sister, the author Katie Fforde. She has been writing since childhood, and her romantic comedy, A Proper Family Christmas, is currently with Accent Press. Her new novel is set in a crumbling Cotswold manor and its beautiful Dower House - she does have a thing about houses. She is also working on a biography of her grandmother, Florence Garner, the American heiress who married Sir William Gordon-Cumming of the notorious Baccarat Scandal. Jane is represented by Lisa Eveleigh at the Richford Becklow Agency

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    Reviews for A Proper Family Christmas

    3.5/5

    10 ratings1 review

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    • 3/5
      There are a lot of characters in this novel. So many that a family tree is provided at the front, and I found myself referring to it frequently in the early part of the book. It was useful, but I did find myself faintly irritated that the people were introduced so rapidly, and that they weren't rounded enough for me to tell them apart easily.

      The most interesting person is Frances, the new nanny to a four-year-old called Tobias. His parents are the snobby and unfeeling Stephen and Leslie; they decide to spend Christmas with Stephen's father William at his ancient (and crumbling) mansion, in the hope of persuading him to write his will.

      Meanwhile Stephen's jolly sister Julia and her philandering husband Tony, along with their rather ghastly daughter Posy and her even more appalling Nanny also decide to stay with William. Then William's sister Margery decides to bring a friend who is interested in old houses, and Margery's daughter-in-law Hilary is invited for good measure... confused? Yes, so was I.

      There are even more people who appear during the first few chapters, mostly caricatured and unrealistic.

      Having said that, it's not meant to be taken seriously. The novel is something of a family farce, with misunderstandings, complications, and intense family rivalry. I didn't particularly like the style, which was very rapid, switching viewpoints constantly, and interspersing thoughts and conversation with little explanation.

      Still, it's not a bad book, and I found I got more interested in the various relationships as it progressed. The family gathering in a mansion, and one-dimensional characters reminded me a bit of some of Agatha Christie's books - so much so that I half expected someone to be murdered. I was relieved when everything turned out much as I expected it to towards the end.

      Pleasant enough - if a little tiring - for a very light read over the holiday season.