Feeling lonely at Christmas? Me too

In Dumas’ great novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès was condemned to life imprisonment in the notorious Chateau d’If, a lonely tower off the French coast, plus an annual flogging. The human mind being what it is he couldn’t sit peacefully enjoying his sea view. Instead his anxious thoughts continually anticipated the pain to come. It isn’t clear in which month he was whipped but it seems likely that he was probably worrying about it for at least three months in advance. I know how he feels: in much the same way, I am among those who start losing sleep about Christmas Day in mid-October.

No one could have loved Christmas more than I once did. As a child, it was equal in delight to the first sight of the sea appearing over the brow of the hill on our summer holiday. Christmas, our week by the sea and to a lesser extent birthdays were magical.