The fire is on, sherry poured, presents wrapped, and claws are being sharpened. In a seaside cottage perched on a cliff, one family reunites for Christmas. While snow falls, a tyrannical widowed matriarch presides over her unruly brood. Her niece tends to her whims, but fantasises about eloping; and as more guests arrive, each bringing their secret truths and dreams, the Christmas tree explodes, a brawl erupts, an escape occurs – and their ‘midwinter madness’ climaxes.
Mistletoe Malice
£9.99
3 in stock (can be backordered)
3 in stock (can be backordered)
Description
Faber & Faber
Paperback
252pp
Faber & Faber
198x129x17
Kathleen Farrell Faber & Faber FBC|FFC|FFJ|FS Paperback 2023
Literary comfort and joy. It got me out of mourning for the Cazalet Chronicles.
Meg Mason (author of Sorrow and Bliss)
A stylish and penetrating comedy of manners. My favourite Christmas book by far – and you can read it all year round.
Rachel Joyce (author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry)
A horribly delicious snapshot of post-war family life, in which tensions ensnare the reader in tinsel-covered barbed wire.
Janice Hallett (author of The Appeal and The Twyford Code)
Farrell's gloriously acerbic novel [takes] a scalpel to the traditional family Christmas … A beautifully drawn cast … Razor-sharp dialogue and astute observations.
Observer
[A] Yuletide that few of them forget. Fans of Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor will adore the dark humour and complicated relationships in this Christmas cracker.
Red
Such wit and clarity, and wry social observations.
Barry Humphries
Astringently witty and a pleasure to read … A preposterous round dance of mocking and malicious conversation, each of them in turn momentarily transfixed by the piercing truth or unkindness of his own or somebody else's remark … Genuine wit, an acute feminine intelligence and a natural distinction of style.
Spectator
Savagely witty and abnormally penetrating … An original and forceful writer.
Sunday Times – CP Snow
Such wit and psychological penetration … Miss Farrell has a marvellous knowledge of the torture-chambers that people construct for themselves.
New Statesman
A reminder that while writers like Barbara Pym and Jean Rhys have been rediscovered, others, like Farrell, remain lost in the shadows of literature … A distinctive voice, and she provided her readers with subtle pleasures … A wonderfully astringent portrait of a family gathering for Christmas … Entirely original.
Guardian
Writes so deftly, and with such tart, unsentimental humour.
Observer
Immensely witty … Piercingly sharp.
Independent
Real talent. She strikes a cunning balance between lightness and brightness and sensitivity and hidden depths. Her dialogue is very good indeed, packed with character.
New Statesman
The sour comedy, the sensuous appreciation of scene, the music of love and loss and regret, are felt in a manner entirely Miss Farrell's own.
Sunday Times
