What do you think?
Rate this book
A Christmas to Remember
A few days before Christmas, Tess Williams rushes into Albert Payne’s tobacconist shop, with two boys in hot pursuit, saying she’s a thief. Albert chases the boys away, and though Tess does not realize it, this incident changes her life. Tess lives with her grandmother, Edie, in a small flat on Heyworth Street in Norwich. She has recently returned from Bell Farm, where she was evacuated during the war, and is being bullied by her schoolmates, but when the handsome Snowy White comes to her rescue she thinks her troubles are over, and returns for a working holiday to Bell Farm and her old friend Jonty. This leaves Edie to her own devices, however, and Tess is jealous of the friendship which blossoms between her grandmother and the tobacconist.Yet though Tess resents Albert, it is to him she turns when things start to go wrong.
404 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
24 people are currently reading
518 people want to read
About the author
Katie Flynn
98 books219 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Katie Flynn was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School, where she was extremely happy and extremely undistinguished. Published at the tender age of eight, in Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, she joined a Writers’ Circle as an adult, publishing short stories, articles, etc; only turning to novels in 1971 because the postal strike cut off her main source of income!
At first she wrote under several different names – Judith Saxton, Judy Turner, Lydia Balmain, Judith Arden – but her Katie Flynn books were a delight to write and proved far more popular than she had dreamed. She has now published nearly ninety novels, twenty-seven of which are Flynns. Her most recent titles are: Lost Days of Summer and Christmas Wishes.
Katie Flynn was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School, where she was extremely happy and extremely undistinguished. Published at the tender age of eight, in Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, she joined a Writers’ Circle as an adult, publishing short stories, articles, etc; only turning to novels in 1971 because the postal strike cut off her main source of income!
At first she wrote under several different names – Judith Saxton, Judy Turner, Lydia Balmain, Judith Arden – but her Katie Flynn books were a delight to write and proved far more popular than she had dreamed. She has now published nearly ninety novels, twenty-seven of which are Flynns. Her most recent titles are: Lost Days of Summer and Christmas Wishes.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 30, 2015
I loved this. I loved this and it's sparkly cover. Yes, sparkles!
When I see books by Katie Flynn, and indeed other authors of the romantic-saga-type genre, I think Oh, I know what I'm in for. These are the books I turn to when I need something which will make my heart swell and put a huge smile on my face. But boy, this was different. Right from the first pages I knew that although it would still most likely follow the usual formula, there was something which wouldn't.
And that was the main character, Tess.
This book read a little like a young adult and I seriously enjoyed it. Tess is a young adult herself and this follows her tough journey through post-evacuation life living with her only relative, her gran. We see her try to figure out who she loves, we see her grow up and we see her realise that she was a little selfish at times and work to rectify that.
There are twists and turns and oh-my-gosh moments all through this, and although the ending was a little fast for me, I will certainly read this again.
No matter your age, I think you'll enjoy this. This book is so much more than the genre it's in, and it's a book for everyone to enjoy. This is a book for all times of the year, not just Christmas, despite what the cover implies - I would have been just as comfortable and content reading this in the height of summer!
I received a copy of this for free via NetGalley for review purposes.
When I see books by Katie Flynn, and indeed other authors of the romantic-saga-type genre, I think Oh, I know what I'm in for. These are the books I turn to when I need something which will make my heart swell and put a huge smile on my face. But boy, this was different. Right from the first pages I knew that although it would still most likely follow the usual formula, there was something which wouldn't.
And that was the main character, Tess.
This book read a little like a young adult and I seriously enjoyed it. Tess is a young adult herself and this follows her tough journey through post-evacuation life living with her only relative, her gran. We see her try to figure out who she loves, we see her grow up and we see her realise that she was a little selfish at times and work to rectify that.
There are twists and turns and oh-my-gosh moments all through this, and although the ending was a little fast for me, I will certainly read this again.
No matter your age, I think you'll enjoy this. This book is so much more than the genre it's in, and it's a book for everyone to enjoy. This is a book for all times of the year, not just Christmas, despite what the cover implies - I would have been just as comfortable and content reading this in the height of summer!
I received a copy of this for free via NetGalley for review purposes.
January 3, 2026
For en herlig bok! Forfriskende å lese noe hjertevarmt som ikke er ute etter å sjokkere, skremme eller vise uoppnåelige standarderer, men heller om hverdagslivet og hvordan vanlige mennesker lever og utvikler seg over tid.
December 3, 2017
Loved this book by Katie Flynn. The artwork on the cover is really lovely and the story does not disappoint. The old adage of never judging a book by it's cover is so not true with this book.
Recommended.
Recommended.
December 24, 2018
This was an amazing heart warming book. We see the characters grow and how they find themselves. This book is full of both friendship, love and surprising twists. I loved the ending so much, I couldn't of asked for a better conclusion to the book. A definite christmas read
January 19, 2023
4stars because the chapters are lengthy15if shorter could of been 20plus
December 23, 2020
I thought I was getting a nice Christmas story, but this had very little to do with Christmas. It is a life story of a young girl called Tess coming into adulthood. And a bit about people she's surrounded by. Gosh, let me tell you, this was quite boring and uneventful. But the main problem I had was that everyone in this story talked about doing things and then not actually do them. I don't think I have ever read about more indecisive people. Literally everyone in here from the main character to her friends and grandma couldn't make a decision even if their life depended on it. Was this supposed to resemble real life? Maybe, but even in real life you have people who are indecisive and people who know what they want to do, they are all mixed up. But here, nope... you get a bunch who are clueless as to what they want from their lives. It was very frustrating.
December 22, 2019
The original boomer novel. Went in for comfort, came out with boredom so intense, I had to fit in three unedpected naps into an otherwise productive readathon. Sigh.
December 7, 2023
Initially thought this book was going to be cosy read, but so mundane, skipped several chapters and was able to follow storyline.
January 27, 2021
Heart-warming! This is the word which best describes this book. The story revolves around the life of Tess as she grows up from a lanky schoolgirl to a savvy woman and her various incidents and encounters surrounding the people in her life. The book moves slowly pulling the reader into the daily life and happenings of the characters which adds to their personalities and well as makes the reader to attach to them emotionally.
The story picks up pace in the last 100 pages as it hustles towards its climax which is quite unexpected though not very surprising. I would recommend reading this book at any time, not just Christmas, for it leaves the reader as happy as it were Christmas!
The story picks up pace in the last 100 pages as it hustles towards its climax which is quite unexpected though not very surprising. I would recommend reading this book at any time, not just Christmas, for it leaves the reader as happy as it were Christmas!
January 5, 2026
It was a hard start for me, and God, the old English used in the book! :X
Anyway, this was a very pleasant story with amazing characters, not a traditional love story and absolutely not about Christmas to remember! :D But I did enjoy both the story and the characters very much. Do not hesitate to read it.
Anyway, this was a very pleasant story with amazing characters, not a traditional love story and absolutely not about Christmas to remember! :D But I did enjoy both the story and the characters very much. Do not hesitate to read it.
January 3, 2015
I was rather disapointed by this story, albeit the actual story was ok, but it is not at all a christmassy book as the title rather promises.
December 28, 2025
I’d rate this book a 2.5 stars, it wasn’t a bad book but it did have some faults
The blurb was really misleading as to what the book was about and all the blurbs I saw online was not what actually happened in the book. The pacing wasn’t great either, unimportant scenes felt too long and slow whereas the more important scenes felt rushed and sped along. There were huge time jumps that felt unnecessary and some things in the book weren’t stated like for example when Tess and Snowy were dating that was never announced it was just suddenly a thing and I felt really confused on that. The ending felt quite rushed and boring considering there were 300 pages building this story up for everything to get solved quite quickly and rather boringly, there wasn’t any satisfaction to the ending.
However I did enjoy the plot, I liked Jonty’s character and Edie’s and Albert’s moments. Tess had some quite annoying faults like random spurts of jealousy that made no sense but all round she was a likeable character. I just felt that the plot could’ve been written better and this book has a lot of potential it just wasn’t paced right and felt rather confusing to read; I didn’t connect with the characters or really understand a lot of their decisions if that makes sense
The blurb was really misleading as to what the book was about and all the blurbs I saw online was not what actually happened in the book. The pacing wasn’t great either, unimportant scenes felt too long and slow whereas the more important scenes felt rushed and sped along. There were huge time jumps that felt unnecessary and some things in the book weren’t stated like for example when Tess and Snowy were dating that was never announced it was just suddenly a thing and I felt really confused on that. The ending felt quite rushed and boring considering there were 300 pages building this story up for everything to get solved quite quickly and rather boringly, there wasn’t any satisfaction to the ending.
However I did enjoy the plot, I liked Jonty’s character and Edie’s and Albert’s moments. Tess had some quite annoying faults like random spurts of jealousy that made no sense but all round she was a likeable character. I just felt that the plot could’ve been written better and this book has a lot of potential it just wasn’t paced right and felt rather confusing to read; I didn’t connect with the characters or really understand a lot of their decisions if that makes sense
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2017
this is the first Katie Flynn book I have read, and I didn't know of her subject matter when I started this - in fact I didn't even realise it was set in Liverpool! Stories set around WW2 aren't really my type of story, but I did enjoy this one. Unlike the Annie Groves saga I read earlier in the year, this has few ups and downs, and is set over nearly a decade rather than a few months. It is a gentle weaving story, intertwining the lives of several characters quite nicely. I guessed what was going to occur with the central characters, but the peripheral ones surprised me a little.
It was an easy read, and I did want to know what happened to them as the book progressed. Not sure I would read another, simply as it is not my genre of choice. If you like this type of period story though, then go for it!
It was an easy read, and I did want to know what happened to them as the book progressed. Not sure I would read another, simply as it is not my genre of choice. If you like this type of period story though, then go for it!
December 28, 2020
Awww I did enjoy this, it was a big book & it’s taken me most of December reading this on and off so it’s probably the one I will remember reading the most at Christmas 2020.
I loved it more than your usual Xmas Rom com because it’s set a couple of years post war in Liverpool, times of rationing and hardship. The story goes over about 4-5 years so it’s not just one Christmas with one story, you get to see Tess the main character grow up and open her own pet shop, not just fall in love.
I loved it more than your usual Xmas Rom com because it’s set a couple of years post war in Liverpool, times of rationing and hardship. The story goes over about 4-5 years so it’s not just one Christmas with one story, you get to see Tess the main character grow up and open her own pet shop, not just fall in love.
September 9, 2019
I was more than halfway through reading this book before it got interesting for me.
I'm not one for giving up on a book , for fear of missing something later into the story. So continued to the end. And what An end ! The last few chapters gripped me and I was pleased with the end . Outcome
I'm not one for giving up on a book , for fear of missing something later into the story. So continued to the end. And what An end ! The last few chapters gripped me and I was pleased with the end . Outcome
December 27, 2020
4 out of 5 stars
This is a lovely post war Christmas book that is based around tess Williams and her gran Edie. We see tess grow up into a stronger lady who is protective of her gram. Lovely to have romances for the two generations which is written beautifully.
This is a lovely post war Christmas book that is based around tess Williams and her gran Edie. We see tess grow up into a stronger lady who is protective of her gram. Lovely to have romances for the two generations which is written beautifully.
September 3, 2023
yet another brilliant story from Katie Flynn
Loved the characters, could almost see them growing up. The twists and turns in the story kept me reading and the only thing I disliked was finishing the book!
Loved the characters, could almost see them growing up. The twists and turns in the story kept me reading and the only thing I disliked was finishing the book!
September 10, 2017
Loved it. Armchair comfort
December 25, 2017
Not one of my usual genres of choice, was tempted by Christmas in title (as it was Xmas), an easy read, but predictable once the love aspect came in.
March 24, 2020
another winner from Katie Flynn well worth reading and a real heartwarmer
December 20, 2020
Bit dull in parts, not very Christmassy. To me a while to get through as didn’t grab my attention.
January 12, 2022
A heartwarming Christmas read. This book takes you back in time and explores the complexities of relationships and love. Katie Flynn brings the characters alive. A most enjoyable read.
December 27, 2022
I enjoyed it.
Nice little story. Likeable characters.
It didn’t seem to quite match up to the blurb in the back; and again I felt it suddenly finished!
Nice little story. Likeable characters.
It didn’t seem to quite match up to the blurb in the back; and again I felt it suddenly finished!
June 16, 2024
Very old setting but glad i read it.
October 26, 2025
Lovely dtory
December 21, 2025
2nd time reading. excellent heartwarming
January 9, 2026
Different forms of love. Perfectly light and can be read anytime not only over the holidays
May 24, 2018
Love all Katie Flynn books
Well written, loved the story line..
Can't wait to read the next book...
Well done Katie for another great read..
Well written, loved the story line..
Can't wait to read the next book...
Well done Katie for another great read..
February 7, 2015
I gotta be honest, the only reason I have read this book was because of its cover. It is truly beautiful and has sparkles on it, which I am always drawn to. So therefore, I have read the book because it had sparkles on it, which is I agree, wrong.
However, the book was quite boring, and nothing was really happening, but when the storyline become more interesting, the writer only gave us glimpses of the scenes I wanted to read, and then swapped to another scene, which I was not happy about. It did have its happy ending, but it was rather short and was cut off quite fast... However, I was happy with the guy she chose, because I wasn't really fond of the other one, and the boy she chose was really nice.
However, the book was quite boring, and nothing was really happening, but when the storyline become more interesting, the writer only gave us glimpses of the scenes I wanted to read, and then swapped to another scene, which I was not happy about. It did have its happy ending, but it was rather short and was cut off quite fast... However, I was happy with the guy she chose, because I wasn't really fond of the other one, and the boy she chose was really nice.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews