Here is the latest Book End column from this week’s issue of the Spectator:
‘I only see radiators these days’, announces one of the characters in this novel — ‘You know, people who give out heat and warmth.’ A radiator is a pretty good description of India Knight’s Comfort and Joy, too: a book so kindly and funny and affectionate that you could probably warm your hands on it.
Miraculously, this is a feel-good story that manages not to be saccharine. Our heroine, Clara, may be nice, but she’s also barbed, tough and clever: a thoroughly modern woman. The action takes place over three consecutive Yules, during which time Clara’s one ex-husband is joined by a second, and we learn that a certain sadness in her youth is the motor driving her desire to make Christmas lovely for everyone.
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