Writing about Christmas feels like a tremendous responsibility. I am immensely grateful to the many people who have helped me bring this book to life. Hundreds of people shared their Christmas memories with me, and I am particularly indebted to those who allowed me to share their stories.
Christmas is complicated, so I am grateful to the scholarly work of many, as listed in the bibliography at dowhatyouloveforlife.com/course/cc, and in particular Daniel Miller’s Unwrapping Christmas, an excellent collection of anthropological essays that pointed me in the direction of many further sources of historical information. Judith Flanders’s Christmas: A Biography also offered a fresh perspective that made me question many of my own assumptions about Christmas.
I also want to offer particular thanks to Michael Danks of the Forestry Commission in the New Forest, Hampshire, for his advice, and to Alan Buckingham and his book Allotment Month By Month, for the seasonal growing facts.
Further thanks go to Horatio Clare, for showing me how to write about winter and reminding me to sometimes think like a nine-year-old, to Bella Bathurst for her laser insight, and to Rebecca Campbell and Will Storr for unknowingly blowing it all apart and bringing it back together. I am grateful to Pico Iyer for the kind words, to Arthur Golden for returning my call, and to Lucy Brazier for the chats and the Bramley apple-lemon curd recipe. Lastly, I must thank Sarah McLachlan for her beautiful album Wintersong, which I listened to on repeat while writing.
I raise a glass of Christmas cheer to my wonderful agent Caroline Hardman, to the brilliant Thérèse Coen for getting my words out in the world in many languages, and to the whole team at Hardman & Swainson.
I am hugely grateful to the whole team at Piatkus, and in particular to Jillian Young, Jillian Stewart, Phillip Parr, Emily Courdelle, Beth Wright, and Aimee Kitson. In the US, my deepest gratitude lies with Kara Watson of Scribner, who sprinkled magic over these pages from her desk at Rockefeller Center in New York City, home of that iconic skating rink and giant Christmas tree.
This book was mostly written at my kitchen table, but would never have been finished without time and space, and good coffee, for which I am indebted to Karl and the team at The Lyme Bay (Lyme Regis), Steve and Elaine at Amid Giants & Idols (Lyme Regis), Jerry & Wendy’s place, the hideaway on Rousdon Estate, Arvon at Totleigh Barton, and Gemma for her sweet place in Frome. I owe a stockingful of thanks to my in-laws, Joan and Bob Kempton, and to all the lovely friends who invited my family to tea while I was busy writing.
My own Christmas memories would not be what they are without the magical experiences my parents created for my brothers and me when we were young, and for that I will be forever grateful. These days, I am happy that the Christmas celebrations have grown to include the joy of our nieces and nephews—Will, Holly, Freya, Finley, Zack, Grace, Cody, and Kinsley.
Most of all, my heart lies with my husband, Mr. K, who makes it all possible and special, and my daughters, Sienna and Maia, who light up our daily lives with their magic. You are my greatest gift, at Christmas and all year round.