I’m always excited to read one of Milly Johnson’s stories as I’ve really enjoyed the communities she creates and I know I’m guaranteed laughter and tears. The Mother of all Christmases has to be my all-time favourite though – such an emotional story.
- Paperback: 528 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK; Paperback Original edition (15 Nov. 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1471161900
- ISBN-13: 978-1471161902
Available to purchase in digital, paperback and audiobook formats.
Eve Glace – co-owner of the theme park Winterworld – is having a baby and her due date is a perfectly timed 25th December. And she’s decided that she and her husband Jacques should renew their wedding vows with all the pomp that was missing the first time. But growing problems at Winterworld keep distracting them …
Annie Pandoro and her husband Joe own a small Christmas cracker factory, and are well set up and happy together despite life never blessing them with a much-wanted child. But when Annie finds that the changes happening to her body aren’t typical of the menopause but pregnancy, her joy is uncontainable.
Palma Collins has agreed to act as a surrogate, hoping the money will get her out of the gutter in which she finds herself. But when the couple she is helping split up, is she going to be left carrying a baby she never intended to keep?
Annie, Palma and Eve all meet at the ‘Christmas Pudding Club’, a new directive started by a forward-thinking young doctor to help mums-to-be mingle and share their pregnancy journeys. Will this group help each other to find love, contentment and peace as Christmas approaches?
Book Review
It’s obvious from the title and the blurb the theme of the story however what you won’t be prepared for is the depth of emotions you will experience …
Some of the characters I’ve met (and loved) from previous stories. Although their stories are complete in themselves, it was brilliant to continue being a part of their lives and for one couple in particular, a huge cheer for a resolution. 🙂 If you haven’t read any of Milly Johnson’s previous stories (hello, where have you been?) it won’t matter to your enjoyment of The Mother of all Christmases. You will still be able to engage and identify with the characters and the stories they have to tell here.
The main character who stole my heart (and will steal yours too) was Palma. Despite a dysfunctional childhood she has ambition and lives as best she can within the confines where society has placed her. She’s loyal to her old school friend, helping her out despite knowing she’s totally different than the girl she knew at school. This young women has so much strength. Going to the the Christmas Pudding Club opens up not just opportunities for her but gives her the chance to belong to a friendship group that is caring and honest.
The problems at Winterworld also have an underlying link to the theme of the story. One scene in particular with Effin gave me a lump in my throat …
Talking about lumps in throat, oh my! when a life changing event happens I carefully prodded my emotions. I thought I was ok. Not too bad I thought. How wrong I was! I was reading this story as we journeyed to family and had to compose myself as best I could before stopping off at the services. It was pretty obvious I had been crying. So my advice to you would be not to read in public because you WILL need tissues.
I have to mention the newspaper The Daily Trumpet. My family love to hear their write ups – and we roll around with laughter. Thank you Milly Johnson for including these snippets in your stories.
The Mother of all Christmases will make your heart strum with warmth, joy and with a sadness that will take your breath away. You’ll love being a part of this community and feel like the characters are your friends. You’ll cheer and weep and everything in between. Perfection.
(pssst It’s the perfect gift for yourself or the book lover in your life).
Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. As well as being an author she is also a copywriter for the greetings card industry, a joke-writer, a columnist, after dinner speaker, poet, BBC newspaper reviewer, and a sometimes BBC radio presenter.
She won the RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel of 2014 and 2016 and the Yorkshire Society award for Arts and Culture 2015.
She writes about love, life, friendships and that little bit of the magic that sometimes crops up in real life. She likes owls, cats, meringues, handbags and literary gifts – but hates marzipan. She is very short.
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