After surviving the wonder and betrayal that is Christmas as a child, we reassemble the holiday as adults, only to have it break again, one piece at a time over the years as our children age and eventually grow up to continue the cycle of merriment and misery themselves.  First is the reveal to our own children that it hasn’t been a big man with a beard who broke into the house and ate those cookies and glasses of milk over the years, but mom who gobbled down all their hard work after tossing the milk and refilling the glass with wine.  Then come the edits to the Christmas lists that started with a “dolly that can cry, drink, and wet”, and now reads more like a ransom note of cash, gift cards, or “just transfer the money to my account.”  And finally, after years of sharing the holiday with an ex-spouse who barely shows up for birthdays, but is still somehow the highlight of Christmas day when he arrives with gifts wrapped by a sixteen-year-old at the mall and yet another hamster you did not agree to house, you now must suffer the indignity of being forced to split the holiday a third way to make room for the families of the partners your children chose to shack up with.

It’s really quite depressing if you think about it too hard and then go and write it all down.

So it was with a bit of joyous relief that I came across Samantha Silva’s Mr. Dickens and His Carol, just as the Christmas season began.  I am a firm believer that sometimes just the right book finds you at just the perfect time.  And this was certainly the case with Silva’s novel.  Historical fiction is just so much fun anyway and experiencing Silva’s masterful take on the origins of Dickens’ most famous work read like a cherished Christmas present.  If you’re a fan of Charles Dickens, you will ABSOLUTLEY LOVE Silva’s gift with language, since her style is (not coincidentally, I think) very close to the wordsmith’s, himself.  Like Dickens, Silva paints London in all its guts and glory, with brushstrokes that bring streets and characters to life and a vocabulary that requires a dictionary in close proximity.  I read Great Expectations and Oliver Twist when I was younger and while the stories are tremendous, I remember being impatient at times as the author explained exactly the color and quality of the threads that affixed the pearl-shell buttons onto the crisply-lined, cashmere-blend, brocade-patterned waistcoat that reeked of timeless sophistication and refined elegance.  But I know I can be an impatient reader.  Even if you’re not a huge Dickens fan (and I’m not, particularly), I think you’ll still enjoy Silva’s novel, if not for its language, then for its story, its powerful themes, and its unforgettable characters.

Read Mr. Dickens and His Carol for its unflinching account of the very “un” Christmas spirit from which most of us suffer during this time of year.  Dickens was struggling financially when he wrote his novel; he was having trouble with his marriage, his needy friends and family, and his children were taking turns getting on his very last nerve.  (I swear they hold meetings and coordinate.)  Read the novel to enjoy not one, but TWO adorable pups that feature prominently in the story.  And finally, read Mr. Dickens and His Carol for the same reason we should all read the original A Christmas Carol, which I have not.  Dickens’ work had sadly been transformed into more of a children’s story, especially after Disney and Hollywood got their hands on it.  But after reading Silva’s novel I understand Carols’ audience is unequivocally adults.  Specifically, adults like me, who get angry with the vapid commercialism of the holiday and who struggle with the sadness Christmas sometimes brings.  This book may be the best gift you give yourself or someone else all year.

Enjoy.