A Family Christmas

by Katie Flynn

Two children go on a desperate journey to find their family. Jimmy Trewin and his little sister are devastated by their mother's death, and horrified to find themselves entrusted to the far from tender care of a hated neighbor, Mrs. Huxtable. They hope their father will rescue them when his ship comes into port, but this does not happen, and when Cyril Huxtable is seen by the children hiding "a wad of notes" away, a wad which subsequently disappears, they realize they are in deep trouble. Cyril accuses them of theft and threatens a terrible revenge, so they decide to leave Liverpool and try to find their mother's family in Wales. Soon, they meet Miss Trent, a school teacher who has been unfairly dismissed, and agree to join forces, since Miss Trent also hopes to find relatives in Wales. But Cyril has promised to pursue them until they hand over his property, and soon they realize he has picked up their trail. . .

Genres: Christmas, Fiction, Historical

390 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2014

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Jenny Delandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading Christmas stories at Christmas!
This story is set just before the beginning of WW2, in England, and the main characters are cheeky and full of life.
There is a happy ending but there are several twists before that is achieved.

[KeRRy BECK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addictive

Really enjoyed reading this book. Great characters and a really good story something you just had to keep reading. Well worth reading. Recomended

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it was a lovely tale that kept my attention and got my reading year off to a good start. The story is centered on children Jimmy and Mo, who at the start are living with Mrs Huxtable and her son, Cyril. Their mother is dead and their father is at sea and has no knowledge of how his children are being treated and that the money and gifts he sends never reaches them. The story is fast paced and I found it easy to read quickly. As in quite a few of these books I found that the ending seemed rushed and that was a shame because the first two thirds of the book contained such a lot of wonderful detail and warmth.

[Linda O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much christmas in this book. But a really lovely storyline, revolving around two children, who have physically suffered by the woman looking after them, for a year, without family around them. Mum is dead & Dad working at sea. Dad assumes his kids are receiving the money & presents he keeps sending them & being well looked after, but they're being treated like slaves. They eventually escape their home & go on a journey to find their mothers' relatives in Wales, where they also find their father. Plenty happens in their new lives, but I don't want to spoil the story.

[Laura jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

when their mother dies and their father is busy at sea two children are entrusted to a neighbour who makes it clear she does not want them.
their father eventually comes home but money goes missing. the children decide to run away and try to find their mothers relatives along the way they meet a school teacher who has been sacked unfairly so she decides to join the children in their quest

[Joanna B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but other than one scene that was about non-family members eating dinner. It is not a Christmas novel at all and a bad choice for the title.
The story wildly went from one area to another. I liked it but didn’t love it and it took me a long time o read and I read books in between.

[Turning Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotional, heartwarming, and thought-provoking.
Mo's resilience is admirable, Jimmy’s protectiveness stole my heart. Glenys is a true heroine, and the bond between siblings lit up the pages.
I only wish their father had shown up better.
Full review on my blog.

[lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

Always love the books by this author..
There is nothing to dislike about the book
Can't wait for the next one..

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely read with strong characters . The background story of the kids trying to find their family worked well .

[Tiina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The family Christmas was a long way coming, but who cares when the story flows nicely!

[Lucy McLaurin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable Christmas story.

I liked the twists and turns of this story, however I did feel that the second part of the plot after Glenys leaves the farm feels as if many years have been squashed into a few pages without knowing what is actually going on.

[Kirsty (Book - Love - Bug) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I would call a proper story, not all fairy tales and romance. I would have liked to have known earlier in the story what decade this was set in because it wasn't obvious until quite a way in to the book (1930's into 1940's & WWII). In addition, the synopsis (above) isn't actually totally accurate to the story of the book (in the description of what Cyril is seen hiding away) (which I guess is more of a comment for the publisher!).

If you're looking for a festive read, then this is not it (despite Christmas being in the title!) - but what the book is is a good traditional read that reminded me of a modernised Charles Dickens novel; the tale of two children left by their heartbroken widowed father with a wicked neighbour. When the children cannot take any more, what results is a tale of their journey across the country in search of a family they can call their own.

The story was interesting, and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. I got slightly hung up on the authors over use of the word "presently" which I have to admit did annoy me! However, the characters were well drawn, and although the story jumps forward a couple of times (and it would have been nice to have seen the in-between moments), I very much enjoyed it. I also liked the relationship between Jimmy and Mo, and the other relationships that are built as the book progresses.

[Trine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story sort of falls in two parts. First part about the children's attempt to escape their awful guardian and find their grandparents is well told and very sweet. The second part suddenly skips through the whole WW II within a few chapters. For once I think I would have prefered it to be two books with more time to investigate the impact of the war years on all the characters.

[Joanna Warrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It was not as dark as some of her other books which was nice.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, easy reading

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in the classic Katie Flynn style

[Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed this book. easy to read, a good book to curl up with on a wet or windy day.