Frost Fair

by Carol Ann Duffy

It is a snowy London day in The Great Winter of 1683. We follow our bold narrator as she explores ‘the town on the Thames’, a thousand tents and dancing fires lit on the frozen water with jubilant residents and lively festive revelry. All is a fete upon the ice as she sees jugglers, dancing bears, palm readers and even a merry wedding. Her journey leads her to meet many new companions with whom to spend a starry night upon the river, where they sleep with no inkling of who will be looking down on them in the morning light . . . Carol Ann Duffy's Christmas poem, Frost Fair is inspired by the fairs held on the River Thames in London as it froze over in the uncommonly cold winters of the Little Ice Age. This delightful, moving poem captures the inventiveness of a great city and the drama of winter. Beautifully illustrated by David De Las Heras, Frost Fair is an irresistible read for our festive season.

Genres: Poetry, Christmas, Historical Fiction, Holiday, Fiction, London

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2019

About the author

Dame Carol Ann Duffy, DBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009.

She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold this position.

Her collections include Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award; and Rapture (2005), winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize.

Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence, in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable poem, based around the time that the river Thames froze in 1683, beautifully illustrated by David Dr Las Heras.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute pictures, and an interesting poem about a frost fair on the Thames. I'm absolutely facinated by the Frost Fairs of London and the wonderful wintery feel of them so I was always going to enjoy this. And it does a good job of capturing a moment in time.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quaint little book filled with classic Duffy description and bluntness, beautiful imagery and delightful illustrations.

[H. Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting descriptions but not the depth of detail I was expecting. Didn't like the illustrations much either!

[Nadja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations and a nice Christmas poem.

[brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely, I loved everything about this, the prose and illustrations were delightful

[Chrissie Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Carol Ann Duffy delivers with another beautiful poem perfect for the winter months.

I was especially enchanted by this one as the history nerd in me loved the setting and premise surrounding a woman exploring the Thames Frost Fair.

Highly recommend!

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and such a lovely, small size. This book was gifted to me by a wonderful book-friend, Carla, so it means the world to me.

The writing was clear and crisp and the descriptions meaningful and clever. But, sadly, I found the poetry and imagery very sad and a bit depressing.

I will probably give this another try next year. I only wish that the Frost Fair was more lively and uplifting instead.

[jolovesbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poem tells the story of London during the winter of 1683 when the Thames froze.

We feel the cold through the words. And we experience a day in the "town on the Thames", where there's a "mad freedom from the usual".

I also loved the other piece of personal history in the book. It's second hand and has an inscription at the front:
"28th December 2019. Happy 90th birthday mum. X"
Coincidentally, we read the book on her mum's birthday 4 years later: 28 December 2023.

[Leaflet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these little Christmas poem books by Carol Ann Duffy. This one isn’t, strictly speaking, about Christmas but about the Frost Fairs that took place on the Thames River during the Little Ice Age. My favorite illustration is of ...”the King upon the bridge, staring down; a cap of glittering stalagmites for a crown.”

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, beautiful little book of poetry with lovely illustations

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love getting these little books and reading them at christmas time, this was lovely and the illustrations were WONDERFUL.

[Nicola Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful little book crammed with art, real and imagined. Will reread every December, I think.

[Harvey Loftus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A calming and endearing little Winter poem I read in the library today, lovely illustrations in it too!

[iz✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25, rounded down

Illustrations were gorgeous and it was a great introduction to Duffy's poetry, but I had absolutely no idea it was about the Little Ice Age until I read the Goodreads summary and I really, really hate rhyme schemes without purpose (like fine, if it adds something, go ahead? but when you're doing it just for the lols, it just sounds childish and forced and the whole abcdeee thing that was going on wasn't really doing it for me) so didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to. If I reread in December, I suspect the rating with get bumped up and I appreciate that the criticism is very personal to me. Would recommend only if you can get it cheaply, otherwise it's really not worth spending however much books are for something which isn't exceptional and is super short.

[Claire Peal · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all Duffy’s work I find the more you invest the more you get out. I have learnt so much about this ‘little ice age’ from reading, re-reading and researching... its well worth the effort. Duffy has reintroduced me to the delightful word ‘fuddle’; made the book relevant by including climate issues and treated us to her fabulous phraseology ( eg men’s tears... ) among much more. These books are a perfect literary Christmas treat

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Men’s tears / were jewels in their beards for wives to pluck.”

“Fishwives through fist fights / and the fishermen were drunk as eels.”

Carol Ann Duffy is such an amazing poet and I adore all of her works. I randomly came across this little gem and am so happy I did! I’ve been recommending it to people all day (it’s a quick little read) and will continue to do so! It’s also perfect to gift — especially during the winter holidays. This is a book of magic and whimsy and not to be missed!

[Clare Sudbery · Rating 4 out of 5]

(not actually a review, just a quick summary because I'm just using Goodreads to remember which books I've read. Also note that date read is VERY much approximate).
Tiny book - a cute little stocking filler. It's actually a long and slightly magical poem about visiting a fair on a frozen river (the Thames?) in days gone by.

[Chris (thebookaholic) Padgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short dive into the poetry of Duffy, an accomplished poet of considerable appreciation. I found the pictures beautiful and the cadence of the story to be inviting. Poetry is such an opportunity to play with language in multiple ways, provoking the reader to consider deeper what is before us. I enjoyed this little work.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Lovingly structured with nods to Aphra Behn, I really appreciated the insertion of a queer-coded narrator into this historic context. Also reflects research I've done into the Frost Fairs, I can tell CAD did plenty of her own.

[Joanna Flis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My London <3

[Jessikah Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is gorgeous and I feel like this poem has a lot to say about how we view our world (particularly climate change).

[Zosha (shelfobsessed) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant work by Carol Ann Duffy. I don't think I've read a poem of hers I didn't like. Beautifully packaged and illustrated too. The perfect bitesized winter read.

[Eteocles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little and beautiful poetry book about the London I would love to go back to.
Very pretty illustrations too.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

One to re read every Christmas, this was timeless in its delight.

[Jesika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't have quite the detail or depth of imagery that I have come to expect from Carol Ann Duffy, but it is a wintry tale of wonder all the same.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly beautiful paintings, and a lovely poem to read on a very cold night (like yesterday's).

[Kelly Gibbons]

such a cute little Christmas read

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharp and crisp, another beautiful festive poem from Carol Ann Duffy.

[John Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A five star book in the sense that the illustrations and Duffy’s poetry compliment each other perfectly. And it takes ten minutes to read but worth lingering over.