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Christmas at the Keep
Christmas at the Keep
Jan 12, 2026 11:39 PM

Author:Marcia Willett

Christmas at the Keep

A moving and uplifting festive short story from Marcia Willett, perfect for fans of Katie Fforde and Fern Britton.

Nestled in the Devon countryside, the Keep has always been a refuge for the Chadwick family: forever warm and welcoming through the challenges life has thrown at them. And the current occupants have certainly seen their share of challenges...

Lulu and her small son, Oliver, are staying at the Keep while they find their feet. Freddie's commission as a naval chaplain has just ended and he too is grateful to have been welcomed at the Keep whilst he decides where to go next. And now Ed, the black sheep of the family, is finally coming home after ten years living in the USA.

Ed's strange, secretive behaviour means that he often clashes with his family. But as the autumn draws to a close and a sprinkling of snow dusts the moors, could the promise of a family Christmas at the Keep be enough to ease tensions and soothe the sting of a long-buried secret?

The Chadwicks all know one thing for certain - no matter the circumstances, the Keep will always be there to welcome them home.

Praise for Marcia Willett:

'A warm and engaging read.' Trisha Ashley

'A beautifully woven tale of families and their secrets...' Liz Fenwick, bestselling author of The Cornish House

'Riveting, moving and utterly feel-good.' Daily Mail

'Sweeping powers of description transport her readers to another time and place.' Rosanna Ley

Reviews

True to form, Camilla Bruce has spun a slippery yet beguiling spell with this cleverly crafted and intoxicating tale of female rivalry and folklore. A startling and original plot is woven around a cast of gleefully unpleasant characters - I was gripped from the very first page.

—— LUCIE McKNIGHT HARDY, author of Water Shall Refuse Them

Haunting and harrowing . . . I couldn't look away.

—— ALIX E. HARROW, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Simmering with unease and spookiness, this creepy read will give you goosebumps. ****

—— HEAT magazine

A slippery yet beguiling spell ... this is a cleverly crafted and intoxicating tale of female rivalry and folklore.

—— PICK ME UP! 'Book of the Week'

Uniting the 'found footage' of Janice Hallett's books with Norwegian tales of 'difficult women' and folk horror.

—— STYLIST

Haunting and deadly.

—— TAKE A BREAK

This book is one to savour, for the energy, for the wit, for the tenderness of characterisation that make Atkinson enduringly popular.

—— GUARDIAN

As vividly filthy, populous, dangerous as anything described by Dickens, but writing is closer to Thackeray's... Atkinson is a novelist of unrivalled immediacy, authority, and skill.

—— FINANCIAL TIMES

Kate Atkinson is simply one of the best writers working today, anywhere in the world...she's a global treasure... [Shrines] is set during Jazz Age London, in all its fizzy madness and desperation for the new, the better, the hustle. Atkinson has a magician's ability to switch a reader's mood within a few paragraphs, and as dark as her stories can get, within them always shines a beacon of humanity.

—— GILLIAN FLYNN

Atkinson is a thoughtful writer with an astute understanding of 20th-century social history. This is the perfect novel for uncertain times, when comfort of a particularly English and nostalgic stripe is required.

—— THE TIMES

A rich cast of characters, an elegantly intricate plot - this is classic Atkinson.

—— OBSERVER

Atkinson has a tremendous gift for bringing the past to life but wearing her research lightly. With charismatic characters, witty dialogue and a compelling plot, she captures the reckless atmosphere of a city still coming to terms with the horrors of the First World War. It's an absorbing read and a novel to savour.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , DAILY EXPRESS

Atkinson at her inimitable best.

—— VOGUE

Dickensian, yes, but infused with a playful knowingness that's pure Atkinson.

—— Hephzibah Anderson , MAIL ON SUNDAY

A deliciously immersive novel full of deftly drawn characters.

—— RED

This part-literary, part-thriller novel showcases a host of glittering characters...Full of dry wit and charm...if you loved Peaky Blinders, you'll love this.

—— WOMAN & HOME

Exuberant, immersive storytelling featuring intrigue and betrayal is matched with wit and tenderness

—— MAIL ON SUNDAY

With charistmatic characters, witty dialogue, and a compelling plot, she captures the reckless atmosphere of a city still coming to terms with the horrors of the First World War. It's an absorbing read and a novel to savour.

—— DAILY EXPRESS, 'Fiction Highlights of 2022'

Full of grit and atmosphere.

—— PRIMA

Atkinson captures both the glamour and the seediness of this heady period with consummate skill in a book teeming with memorable characters. Gorgeously vivid, often strange and always very funny, it should cement her reputation as one of our finest novelists.

—— Jake Kerridge , SUNDAY EXPRESS

If Dickens had lived to write about The Jazz Age, he would have produced a novel much like Kate Atkinson's "Shrines of Gaiety"... masterful.

—— WASHINGTON POST

There is the perfect balance throughout of sweetness and heartbreak. And, as always, there is the unmistakable zest of Ms. Atkinson's dry wit.

—— Anna Mundow , WALL STREET JOURNAL

Combines the colour of a historical drama with the pace of a thriller and the detail of a police procedural... masterful.

—— i NEWS

The novel grabs the reader from the outset. It paints a picture of the capital's glittering nightlife and its seedier underside so vivid, that it is almost possible to smell the stale cigarette smoke and taste the alcohol... the story of Nellie and her family, and the characters they associate with, builds to a satisfying ending as the strands of their lives are deftly woven together.

—— INDEPENDENT

Magnificent. A rich and vivid portrayal of sly, brilliant characters in the nightlife of 20s London. I fell in love with them all, even the villains ... I loved every minute.

—— Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Froths with all-night parties, corrupt policemen, sickly cocktails, swanky cars, gossip columnists, gambling dens and beautiful clothes... Ms Atkinson once again proves herself to be a consummate entertainer.

—— ECONOMIST (US)

Go out and buy this book today.

—— THE TABLET

Book of the Month

—— SAGA MAGAZINE

Atkinson's latest fictional treat is packed with intrigue... one can never underestimate the pleasurable power of [her] ability to stud her narrative with humor

—— BOSTON GLOBE

An absorbing tale

—— SUNDAY EXPRESS

The latest novel from an author who never lets you down

—— READER'S DIGEST

This terrific novel is alternately hilarious and sad

—— Upfront

It may change your life

—— The Observer

Pearson is a very witty and moving writer. Her prose is spare and skilful...waspish truisms and spot-on social observations

—— Daily Express

Intelligent, witty and of-the-moment, it mixes sassy, brittle perceptions with barefaced sentimentality

—— The Herald, Glasgow

Brilliantly captures and defines the mood of the moment...sparkling wit and razor sharp insights

—— XW Magazine

Sharply observed and frequently funny

—— Evening Standard

The success of the story - and a success it is - comes not from the ingenious scientific speculations, nor the shrewd literary connections (on the "emotional telepathy" of a work of art, or Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon), but the human story between father and son, as Theo finds out 'how my brain learns to resemble what it loves

—— The Critic

Richard Powers's Booker Prize-shortlisted novel is both brutal and heartwarming, intimate and profound. A masterfully curated story of love, grief and loneliness, quietly building to an inevitable and devastating close

—— Press Association

He composes some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. I'm in awe of his talent

—— Oprah Winfrey

In Bewilderment, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist has crafted a story of great beauty and power

—— Business Post
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