I’m delighted today to be helping launch the blog tour for The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar, and sharing my publication day review: published by Hera Books today (31st August), it’s now available via Amazon for kindle and in paperback (or for a paperback copy, you might prefer to use Hive), for Kobo, or via Apple. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to everyone involved in providing my advance reading e-copy.
I’m a tremendous fan of Kiley’s writing, and the first time I read one of her books it was a Christmas one too – August 2019, in the middle of a heatwave, and she took me off to Lapland for a full-on Christmas experience, with roaring fires, reindeer and huskies, snow and ice, and a delicious man in a Santa suit. Christmas at Frozen Falls was just totally gorgeous, and I had no hesitation in including in my Books of the Year list for 2019 (you can read my review again here). Since then, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my visits to Port Willow and Stratford-Upon-Avon (pop her name into my search box, you’ll find all the reviews) – and have been totally enchanted by Clove Lore and the Borrow a Bookshop. In fact, if you’d like another Christmas recommendation, do read Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop if you haven’t already – it was quite wonderful, and one of my 2022 Books of the Year (you’ll find my review of that one here).
But I must admit I was particularly excited about her latest – I read the author’s letter that ends the book and, as well as featuring women characters in their sixties and seventies and some intergenerational friendships (I was totally sold already!), she promised all the Christmas feels that I’d loved so much in her first festive book. And yes, ok, I know it’s only August again… but hey, who cares?!
Everyone deserves a Christmas treat…
The annual Wheaton gingerbread exhibit (a model village made of gingerbread) and grotto has been an important part of the sleepy Cotswold hamlet’s Christmas celebrations for decades.
For years the gingerbread exhibition drew visitors from across the region and each year the model town grew more elaborate and ambitious but recently, interest has been dwindling. The gingerbread grotto needs to be rehomed or close forever.
Sixty-four-year-old Margi, the event’s founder, has had enough of village life (and its total lack of eligible men) and is planning to sell up and head to Birmingham to live closer to her niece.
She has lost her spark and her Christmas spirit and decides this will be her last gingerbread village, but despairs when she finds her only support is her old friend, Izzy, her niece Lucy from Birmingham, and Fern, the shy young farmer’s daughter. Oh, and Patrick, the gorgeous, reliable school caretaker.
As if this wasn’t enough, Lucy is determined to get her out dating again and persuades her to try some online dating apps but Margi’s had her heart broken too many times and wonders if she has just missed her chance.
Can they save the Gingerbread Grotto and can Margi get her old spark and her Christmas spirit back?
A cosy, totally feelgood seasonal read that will have you smiling. The perfect read to snuggle up and have you feeling festive! Fans of Jenny Colgan and Trisha Ashley will love this book.
My goodness, if you – like me – are a fan of Christmas reading, this gorgeous book really is going to give you all the feels you could possibly be looking for. It really is the loveliest story, with that wonderful feeling of community that the author always does so well – and, as if that’s not enough, lead character Margi is a 64-year-old who entirely embodies that “never too late” spirit that I always so enjoy.
Last year, Margi made a big mistake – swept away by romance, a man who promised so much – and is still hurting about the humiliation that followed. She feels everyone is now laughing at her – or pitying her, which might just be worse – and (although no-one else knows yet…) she’s seriously contemplating leaving the lovely Cotswold village of Wheaton for a fresh start in Birmingham, living closer to her only family. But first, there’s an important job to do – her mother started the annual tradition of constructing a gingerbread Christmas village and, this year, Margi really wants what may be her last to be the best they’ve ever built.
Even the initial fundraising for the ingredients proves difficult – there’s strong competition from the Christmas extravaganza at nearby Dunham Gravey, with its lightshow and fireworks – and the community seems to have forgotten (and there are those who don’t even want to find out) the way their display at the neglected Village Hall has always drawn the community together. With the help of the most supportive friends – Izz at the cafe, her new employee Fern, niece Lucy (visiting unexpectedly), local handyman Patrick – they’re almost there, when disaster strikes. And what happens next… I really mustn’t tell you the story, but the way individuals step forward and the community pulls together made this book the most perfect Christmas read.
And running through it all is Margi’s own story. There are days when she feels distinctly past her best, accepting the onset of old age, feeling there’s little left to look forward to – but it doesn’t stop her heart beating rather faster when Patrick is around. But he’s a fair bit younger than her, and she’s sure he’d never see her as more than a friend – so niece Lucy encourages her to try some on-line dating, with a few experiences that convince her that her coupling-up days are over. But yes, there is a romance – and, with a few very real obstacles along the way, one that was absolutely everything I wanted it to be.
And then there’s the whole community of the village – the characterisation in this book is just superb, every individual (however minor their role) so wonderfully drawn, every one of them with their own stories. And I really loved the way they’re drawn from across the generations – the lovely relationships between them, the friendships so real, the warmth and support and small acts of kindness so very moving. There’s a particular authenticity to the emotional content – there were moments that broke my heart – but plenty of lightness and humour that made my heart sing. And was it all as Christmassy as I wanted it to be? Oh yes, it was simply perfect – infused with the aroma of baking gingerbread, and with that all-embracing warmth of the season.
Emotional, beautifully observed, written from the heart, and the most wonderful story, this is one you really must add to your Christmas reading list – I promise you’ll love it as much as I did.
About the author
Kiley Dunbar is a Scot living over the border in Northern England where she teaches English and creative writing, devours romance novels, fusses over Amos the Bedlington Terrier, and loves two little Dunbars. She thinks making imaginary people find happiness and fall in hopelessly in love has to be the best job in the world.
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Thank you soooo much, Anne! I always enjoy and appreciate your reviews. Nobody can share the book love like Being Anne! Love, Kiley x