My Goodreads review: The Christmas Hirelings

The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This Audible audiobook (short novel length) is a holiday treat for folks who can't get enough Victoriana in their Christmas.

First published in 1894, this is a slightly predictable but still enjoyable tale of country house holidays in Cornwall, with all the requisite trimmings. Brooding, aging lord of the manor with complicated family problems? Check. Disowned & widowed daughter? Check. Desperately ill child with sickbed drama? Check . . . It's all done with a certain amount of wit, however. And who couldn't use a happy ending these days?

Recommended for incurable Anglophiles, Dickens fans, Janeites (slightly wrong time period, but similar social commentary) -- & anyone up for Victorian holiday fiction, melodrama & all. It was free from Audible when I acquired it, & I'm glad I did.



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