In the night the snow came. She awoke on Christmas morning in that unmistakable light, coming up from the earth and shining between her curtains. Celebrate Christmas through the creative minds of a host of authors, including Beryl Bainbridge, Maeve Binchy, Richmal Crompton, Alice Munro and Elizabeth von Arnim. From the delightful consequences of decorating the tree by Stella Gibbons to a disorientating encounter at 35,000 feet on a Christmas Day flight by Muriel Spark, an amateur pantomime by Stella Margetson and a New Year's resolution by Alice Childress, these stories are sure to fortify you over the Christmas period. Stories for Christmas and the Festive Season explores the joys and disappointments, pressures and preparations of this time of year from a female perspective. In keeping with the spirit of the series, the stories are plucked from different decades of the twentieth century and penned by familiar as well as forgotten authors writing for both books and popular magazines. The British Library Women Writers series is a curated collection of novels by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women's experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories.
Stella Gibbons Ordre des livres
Stella Dorothea Gibbons était une romancière, journaliste, poétesse et nouvelliste anglaise. Son premier roman, Cold Comfort Farm, a remporté le prix Femina Vie Heureuse en 1933. Cette œuvre est une satire et une parodie du ruralisme pessimiste de Thomas Hardy et de ses disciples. Gibbons introduit une jeune femme sûre d'elle, moderne, pragmatique et optimiste dans les scènes rurales sombres, fatales et obscures que ces romanciers avaient tendance à dépeindre.






- 2022
- 2021
The Woods in Winter
- 224pages
- 8 heures de lecture
Exploring themes of freedom and solitude, the protagonist discovers a newfound sense of living that fulfills her deepest desires. Surrounded by nature and accompanied by an animal companion, she experiences a transformative journey that feels both intoxicating and liberating. This narrative delves into the profound impact of embracing one's true self and the joy found in simplicity.
- 2021
A Pink Front Door
- 248pages
- 9 heures de lecture
Set in the mid-20th century, this novel explores themes of societal expectations and personal identity through its richly drawn characters. With a blend of humor and poignancy, the story delves into the complexities of relationships and the pursuit of happiness. The author, known for their sharp wit, crafts a narrative that reflects the nuances of human experience, making it a timeless read that resonates with both contemporary and historical audiences.
- 2021
'Don't show proper feelin', does it, not turnin' up for 'is dad's funeral'Siblings Sophia, Harry and Francis have lost both their parents in the last six months. Attending the funeral for their estranged father, they wonder what will become of them now that the last connection to their difficult childhood has been severed. What have they inherited - financially and emotionally - to guide them to adulthood, and build a new home together Enbury Heath is a semi-autobiographical account of the years which Gibbons and her brothers spent living in a cottage in Hampstead a wonderfully astute, bittersweet novel about family, grief, money, and the pleasures of London.
- 2021
The Weather at Tregulla
- 230pages
- 9 heures de lecture
A novel first published in 1962, by the author of COLD COMFORT FARM.
- 2021
The Swiss Summer
- 263pages
- 10 heures de lecture
A novel first published in 1951, by the author of COLD COMFORT FARM.
- 2013
Ein bezauberndes Aschenputtelmärchen aus dem England der 30er-JahreViola Withers Leben ist gerade alles andere als märchenhaft. Arm wie eine Kirchenmaus ist die junge Witwe dazu gezwungen, mit der Familie ihres verstorbenen Ehemannes unter einem Dach ein eher freudloses Dasein zu fristen. Der mürrische Mr. Wither ist ein tyrannischer Geizhals, der keinen Hehl daraus macht, wie wenig er von seiner Schwiegertochter hält, und Violas Schwägerinnen sind beide keinen Deut besser. Allein die Aussicht auf den großen Wohltätigkeitsball kann Violas Laune heben – besonders, da Victor Spring ebenfalls dort sein wird, Spross der wohlhabendsten Familie am Ort und in Violas Augen ein wahrer Märchenprinz. Doch Victors Absichten in Bezug auf Viola sind, kurz gesagt, nicht besonders ehrenhaft …
- 2012
Cold Comfort Farm (Unabridged) by Stella Gibbons In Gibbons's classic tale, a resourceful young heroine finds herself in the gloomy, overwrought world of a Hardy or Bronte novel and proceeds to organize everyone out of their romantic tragedies into the pleasures of normal life. Flora Poste, orphaned at 19, chooses to live with relatives at Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex, where cows are named Feckless, Aimless, Pointless, and Graceless, and the proprietors, the dour Starkadder family, are tyrannized by Flora's mysterious aunt, who controls the household from a locked room. Once there she discovers they exist in a state of chaos and feels it is up to her to bring order. Flora's confident and clever management of an alarming cast of eccentrics is only half the pleasure of this novel. The other half is Gibbons's wicked sendup of romantic cliches, from the mad woman in the attic to the druidical peasants with their West Country accents and mystical herbs.
- 2011
Westwood
- 464pages
- 17 heures de lecture
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY LYNNE TRUSS'Stella Gibbons is the Jane Austen of the twentieth century' The TimesSet in wartime London, Westwood tells the story of Margaret Steggles, a plain bookish girl whose mother has told her that she is not the type that attracts men.
- 2011
Cold Comfort Farm, English edition
- 240pages
- 9 heures de lecture
Sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste has been expensively educated to do everything but earn a living. When she is orphaned at twenty, she decides her only option is to descend on relatives - the doomed Starkadders at the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm.



