Nearly a decade after reading and delighting to Anthony Trollope’s An Editor’s Tale, I picked up this collection of novelettes for two reasons: I had long promised myself I would seek out more of Trollope’s work, and I was eager to read something that captured some old-fashioned Christmas spirit.
An overarching word I would use to describe the stories in Christmas at Thompson Hall is ‘frivolous’. Read on for more in-depth reviews.
‘Christmas at Thompson Hall’
The eponymous tale concerns itself with an English matron living abroad in France who is desperate to get back to her family home for Christmas. Standing between her and happiness is her hypochondriac husband, who thinks the long journey will turn his mildly sore throat into something more serious. When she leaves their hotel room to try and find a mustard poultice to alleviate his symptoms, her acute stupidity sets in motion a series of events that are as implausible as they are farcical.
The plot has a sort of silly charm, I suppose, and the reader does want to find out whether they will make it to Thompson Hall for Christmas. It’s also the only story in this collection that comes close to evoking the spirit I was hoping for. But none of the major characters are likeable and the husband and wife protagonists rapidly outstay their welcome.
‘Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage’ & ‘The Mistletoe Bough’
I have lumped these two stories together because they are both about a couple of silly young things who are too dense and too proud to admit they love each other. In other words, it’s the same formula Jane Austen used to better effect 60 or 70 years earlier (and is still used as the basis for most romantic comedies today). They’re set during Christmas, and ‘Kirkby Cottage’ at least offers some yuletide atmosphere, but ‘The Mistletoe Bough’ in could just as easily be set during Easter or Mayday or Guy Fawkes Night.
‘The Two Generals’
Set in Kentucky during the outbreak of the American Civil War, this story has more meat on its bones than the others. Two brothers find themselves on opposing sides of the slavery/secession debate and, to make matters worse, both hold a flame for the same woman (she is already engaged to one of them). Their acrimony threatens to come to a head on Christmas morning, and again on the battlefield, but following that the narrative fades away to an anti-climax – another failing common to all these stories.
‘Not if I Know It’
The shortest yet somehow the weakest story in this collection. Two brothers-in-law get into spat about who was ill-mannered to whom and then decide to forgive each other after attending a Christmas sermon. The ‘clever’ ending is so contrived it could be part of a script for a bad 1980s sitcom.
Final thoughts:
Trollope wrote very competent prose and had a good understanding of human foibles, but there is something inconsequential about these stories. They’re more like Christmas lollies than a hearty serving of Christmas turkey (or, to make the analogy more compatible with Trollope’s world, Christmas beef). A Christmas Carol this is not. ‘The Two Generals’ had the foundations of a great story – had I been Trollope’s editor, I would have asked that he consider rewriting the ending.
Lastly, full marks to the publisher of this edition, Penguin, for adding foil embossing to an already appealing cover. It’s nice to see a publisher investing in its product for once.
