AN ORPHAN'S CHRISTMAS & A CHRISTMAS CANDLE.

Not one but two 'Christmas' books by Katie Flynn, the second and the third of my festive books for grown-ups. 

AN ORPHAN'S CHRISTMAS.

Liverpool, 1936. 

Molly Penelope Hardwick has been abandoned in Haisborough Orphanage. Desperate to discover her background, she befriends another orphan, Lenny Smith. Together they sneak out to roam the city of Liverpool, and hatch plans for their escape.

But when Molly is forced to leave the orphanage, Lenny has no idea where she’s gone. And when war is declared, he soon forgets about his childhood best pal to focus on his posting with the RAF in Scrimpton.

What Lenny doesn’t know is that Molly is desperate to join the war effort, and with her sights set on joining the WAAF, chances are they will see each other again.

But will things ever be the same after all this time? ... Back Cover Blurb

December 1936

It was a bitterly cold night and the sky above the city of Liverpool was dark as ink, save where it was illumined by the hard silver light of the moon. ... First Sentence, Chapter One

Two spam sandwiches and one of jam, two digestive biscuits, and half an apple, already turning brown. Molly nudged her neighbour.

'The spam sandwiches and the apple are lunch, the jam sandwich and the digestive biscuits are tea,' she announced. ... Memorable Moment, Page 234 

A CHRISTMAS CANDLE. 

Will she find love in her wartime home?

1939. 

All over Britain children are being evacuated, and Eve Armstrong is headed for Devon. As the train pulls out of London she takes a last look at the crowded platform, the shabbily dressed evacuees, and a rude little boy sticking his tongue out. She’s looking forward to a change of scene.

And at first Eve is happier than ever at Drake’s Farm. Not even her daily chores dampen her spirits. It’s a different world that invites fresh starts, and so when Eve runs into the boy from the station, Johnny Durrell, they call a truce and soon become firm friends.

To begin with the war seems a distant reality, but when new evacuee Connie Hale arrives from Liverpool, every day becomes a battle. Connie is very pretty and mature beyond her years, but she is also lazy, stuck-up and spiteful - and Johnny's new best friend. As the conflict grows and Evie with it, will she fight for Johnny or concede defeat? ... Back Cover Blurb

The woman getting in the back seat of the taxi cab was old; very old. ... First Sentence, Prologue

Evie glanced back over her shoulder at the farm. It reminded her of a crouching animal with its thatch pulled down over the bedroom windows and the glass in those windows reflecting the last rays of the dying sun. ... Memorable Moment, Page 157

MY THOUGHTS ... You can add the word 'Christmas to any book title and include any amount of glitter, Christmas trees, baubles and snowflakes to its cover but a Christmas novel it does not make.

I've kind of getting used to the idea that 'Christmas' novels despite their festive covers are generally, well, lacking in Christmas content so the fact that neither An Orphan's Christmas nor A Christmas Candle featured very little in the way of Christmas came as no big surprise; that they (The Christmas Candle in particular) contained so very little in the way of Christmas did.

What I tend to think of as comfortable reads; charming but hardly Christmassy, the stories hardly unknown territory, the characters of the sort I've encountered numerous times previously. 

A bit slow to begin with, the story tending to drag a bit, that they were soooo predictable a bit disappointing but hey-ho on the whole OK if your wanting something that feels reassuringly familiar.

NB Not the first two of the author's books that I have read, please see here for my thoughts on a further three of her 'Christmas' novels.