Reviews

The Christmas Hirelings: The 1894 Victorian Classic Christmas Story (Annotated) by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Moncreiffe Press

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lezreadalot's review against another edition

4.0

"You wanted to break my heart," said Sir John, "and it's quite likely that you will realise your wish."

"No, no. I wanted to prove to you that you have a heart."

Wonderful! This is very much reminiscent of (and you could make a case for it being inspired by) A Christmas Carol, and I'm happy to say I liked it even better. The Dickens book is actually directly mentioned in the text, so you can't escape the comparison. I think the reason I liked this more is because there were no ghosts, no apparitions, no paranormal influences to make this rich crotchety old man mend his ways. And it helps that he didn't start off as a complete miser. There was however, as in A Christmas Carol, a precocious little child, and Moppet stole my heart completely.

The premise: Sir John, a lonely old man estranged from his only surviving child, is going to spend another Christmas alone. His friend suggests that children are the very things to make Christmas merry, and goes out to hire some to spend the season at Sir John's estate. It's whimsical, told in that antiquated but clever historical style that I like so much. It made some points about poverty and privilege, and even if it didn't get as in depth as I'd have liked, it was still really good. And just... super charming!

Listened to the audiobook by Richard Armitage, who IMO has one of THE most appealing voices, no hetero. Super lovely, and conveyed all the historical cosiness and charm that I want out of these kinds of Christmas stories. Heart eyes emoji all around.

This put me in turbo Christmas mode and I'm glad about it.

papidoc's review against another edition

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4.0

A short, sweet Christmas story. Not much going on, really, and the "surprise" ending was telegraphed very early in the book, but the dialogue was entertaining, and I had fun imagining the interplay between the old man and the little girl. Richard Armitage did a terrific job of narration.

knynas1's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 🌟

An enjoyable Christmas read. This scrooge-like story explores the spirit of Christmas through forgiveness, charity, and love.

katreadingbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Cute story but predictable. The narrator was a little hard to get into but once I got passed the voice and listened to the story I was engaged.

kay_slayerofbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

This was uber cute

Kinda has a "Christmas Carole" feel with the sickly child, rich old Scrooge of a man and that old man having a change of heart. I liked it tho.

4 stars

jfkaess's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a delightful novella written in 1894. It's a victorian tale which is of a similar feeling and type to Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It's about an elder, well to-do curmudgeon of means with no family whose life is changed by a small child. It's warm, endearing and enjoyable. What makes the story rise above the norm is the excellent narration of the audible version by Richard Armitage. He makes the story real and you feel taken back in time. An excellent story.