"After pledging loyalty to Cromwell’s Commonwealth, a family is allowed to return home in this compelling festive historical novella set during Christmas."
Sitting as a prequel to the Measham Hall series, The Secret Christmas is a lovely festive slice of historical fiction sitting in 1653 when Christmas has been banned. As it’s a prequel you could easily begin here and meet the Hawthorne Family as they reunite after being separated for supporting the King. In creating this series, author Anna Abney has written a fictionalised account of her own ancestors lives. The first book began in 1665 with The Master of Measham Hall, and the two following books travelled through to 1690. While The Secret Christmas is an intimate family based drama, the arrival of a travelling theatre troupe livens proceedings, particularly as those loyal to the Puritan parliament are seeking out any wrongdoers. The house comes to life in front of your eyes, while the theatrics of the players adds a vivid splash of colour. Christmas recipes and traditions head chapters, which ensures the festive treats add to the overall atmosphere. The story itself comes with a level of suspense as the family attempt to hide their celebrations, there really is rather a lot packed into this novella. Satisfying and wonderfully readable, The Secret Christmas makes for a fascinating festive read.
December, 1653, England. The Puritan parliament has outlawed the celebration of Christmas and while shops must stay open every day, the theatres have been forced to close their doors.
The Hawthorne family have been allowed to return to their ancestral home, Measham Hall, just in time for Christmas. This is only after Sir Nicholas Hawthorne has reluctantly agreed to take an oath of loyalty to the Commonwealth. When a theatre troupe begging alms turn up on their doorstep, the family's Catholic traditions of hospitality and charity dictate they must welcome the strangers in, despite the risks involved. These magical and exuberant guests transform Christmas at Measham Hall into a secret celebration, filled with theatrical performances, music and bountiful banquets, much to the delight of the children, William and Alethea.
This festive prequel to The Master of Measham Hall is a delightful tale of a small rebellion and sows the seed for decisions William and Alethea will make in years to come.
Anna Abney is among the last descendants of the Abney family, former residents of Measham Hall, a lost house of Derbyshire. The Measham Hall series is a fictionalised account of her ancestors' lives. An academic in the English and Creative Writing department at the Open University, she wrote her PhD on the seventeenth century writer, Margaret Cavendish, the first English woman to be published in her own name, under the supervision of Lisa Jardine at Queen Mary, University of London. Her writing also includes fiction, journalism and drama. Anna was born and raised in London and lived in Ireland, North and South, for thirteen years before returning to the Big Smoke. She now lives in rural Kent with her husband, a playwright and screenwriter, and their border-collie.
