Joyeux Noël and A Christmas Legacy by Anne Perry.
A Christmas Legacy by Anne Perry (2021) Not available in French.
So, we’re back on the Covid merry-go-round, playing a game of Omicron Says. In other words, it’s Christmas with Covid Season 2.
New restrictions are blooming all over Europe like toxic mushrooms infecting our Christmas again. In France, we are exempted of too many restrictions for now, except the usual health pass, the hydroalcoholic gel fiesta and the mask wearing. They are starting to feel as the new normal. We’re in a frenzy of PCR testing for family reunions and we’ll try to enjoy ourselves despite the omicron cloud over our heads.
With all the bad news piling up, I was looking for something sweet after reading Betty by Tiffany MacDaniel. I turned to Anne Perry’s last Christmas story, A Christmas Legacy and it did the job.
In this one, we’re with with Gracie, Charlotte and Thomas Pitt’s former maid. She has now left their service to get married. She has three children and is happy with her new life. A few days before Christmas, Millie, a girl Gracie has taken under her wing and who works as a housemaid in a Londoner townhouse, comes to her house and says she feels insecure at her employer’s house, Gracie replaces her for a couple of days to investigate what’s going on in this mansion.
This is a book you read under a plaid with tea, Christmas cookies and papillotes. It’s nothing to write home about but a nice and relaxing read. Exactly what I needed.
I hope you and your family are safe and well and that you were able to spend Christmas with the people you love. If you’re locked down because of this damned virus, I hope you planned a wonderful self-party and celebrated the holiday anyway. We, avid readers, are lucky bastards: our main enjoyment is Covid-compliant. We should count our blessings, and that’s definitely one.
Give me some news in the comment section if you wish and Joyeux Noël!
Book Around the Corner 
Happy Christmas to you and yours Emma! We have two of our Offspring home for Christmas and are waiting to hear what lockdown news there will be in the next few days…
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Happy Christmas to you too. I hope you have a great time with your family.
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Joyeux Noël Emma! I’m also reading some Christmas escapism – a golden age mystery set at this time of year. Hope you have a lovely festive time planned.
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Merry Christmas! And yes, Golden Age mystery sounds like a good Christmas treat too.
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Joyeux Noël a vous aussi. Nous sommes preparés pour notre repas de Noel, et aussi quelques temps avec la famille de mon mari.
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Joyeux Noël en famille! Et profitons des derniers jours de 2021 pour lire.
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Nice, et Joyeux Noël !
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Joyeux Noël!
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Western Australia was an island of complacency till Omicron, which is rampaging through the eastern states, finally reached here this week, via a FRENCH backpacker who took a week to realise he was ill! Now we have a mask mandate (in public spaces), no dancing except at weddings (I have no idea either), and a heatwave. Hopefully by this afternoon I will be too anaesthesized to notice. Have a great day!
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It is crazy to see how fast this variant is spreading all over the world. It’s frightening. Since it’s winter here and we’re spending a lot of time indoors, it goes even faster.
They expect a mess in January. *sigh*
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🎄🎁🍷🎉
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Thank you! I hope you had a nice day, despite covid.
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Joyeux Noel! No holiday reading here, but a lot of cookies and cupcakes and mandarin oranges and coffee coffee coffee (because who cares if I can’t sleep well, no need to get up early right now). Hee hee Yes, to all you’ve said. What a blessing to have books and stories, where we can escape. I’ve not read Perry for years, but it’s fun to think that series is still going strong!
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Mandarin oranges are associated with Christmas aren’t they?
I’ve read a lot of books by Anne Perry when my children were little. Good and easy books, that’s what I needed then.
Vive les livres!
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They tend to be available here during December (and sometimes into the winter) but not other times of the year, so I associate them with the holidays, yes. 🙂
You know, I think I stopped reading Anne Perry after I watched the film about her personal history with crime (not being specific in case anyone is unaware and prefers to keep it that way); it wasn’t intentional, I just focussed on other mystery writers, and then I was permanently distracted.
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I haven’t seen the film but I should watch it. Isn’t it a fascinating background for a crime writer?
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Belated Happy Christmas, Emma! We are in Barbados, which is Omicron-free for now, and enjoying a nice peaceful time. People and businesses are taking things like masks very seriously here and are spraying hand sanitiser over every known surface (and there are temperature checks when you enter any building), but vaccine uptake has still been low, so things could get uglier when Omicron arrives. I’m enjoying the respite, though, and taking the time to enjoy my Covid-compliant hobby. Happy New Year!
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Hi Andrew and happy holidays in Barbados with the in-laws. New Year’s Eve is going to be a quiet affair of good food and board games.
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Sounds good – enjoy!!
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Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family and lots of nice cozy books! Thank goodness we can enjoy all those lovely immersive books. Sending you and your loved ones best wishes for a peaceful and healthful New Year!
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We had a wonderful, normal Christmas and I hope it was the same for you.
I’m sending you my best wishes too for this New Year.
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