Reviews

Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories by Gillian Tyler, P.L. Travers

idgey's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

quietlyflourishing's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

nightmarily's review against another edition

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4.0

A short and sweet look at the interesting characters in Travers's life growing up.

jbarr5's review against another edition

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4.0

Aunt Sass Christmas stories by Travers_ P. L_ (Pamela Lyndon)
Stories given to friends and relatives as Christmas gifts. Some stories are about something that reminded the author of the person they are to be given to.
Surrounds what one thinks of Mary Poppins, but not the dark fantasy type.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

sierraseawitch's review against another edition

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4.0

Not Christmas stories at all but stories about people who shaped a young PL Traver's life. The story about Ah Wong made me cry, Johnny Delaney made me laugh out loud, and Aunt Sass was just good. Excellent time capsules of social and economic attitudes in Victorian Australia to be read with that time period in mind.

flick_reads's review

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dark reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

teriboop's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a collection of three stories by P. L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins. Although the title mentions "Christmas Stories", this was not a collection of stories about Christmas. They were written as stories that she wrote as Christmas gifts. Christmas was briefly mentioned in a couple of the stories, but that was it.

I didn't think they were outstanding stories, but I did enjoy the second one of the heathen Chinaman named Ah Wong. He was a humorous man. I can't say this is a favorite book, but the stories were cute and what you would expect of P. L. Travers.

halfcentreader's review against another edition

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4.0

3 memoir style short stories written by Travers to various members of her extended family as Christmas gifts. Each was a character study/tribute to someone that was influential to her upbringing in her early childhood. It is particularly of note how many attributes these real life people share with Travers' most famous fictional character, Mary Poppins.

kristinasshelves's review against another edition

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2.0

Why did I finish listening to this?


This is made up of three stories: Aunt Sass, Ah Wong, and John Delaney. None of the stories are Christmas related despite the title of this collection. Aunt Sass was mildly entertaining, but the other two stories were awful. There were racist undertones, but given the era of writing I suppose that's to be expected- not that it's acceptable in any way, but historically accurate. I was also very uncomfortable with the main characters trying to convert their Chinese servant to Christianity without actually explaining salvation to him whatsoever, but rather to benefit themselves in some twisted way.

naelany's review against another edition

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4.0

First time reading PL Travers, author of Mary Poppins. Very much a similar style of story telling and left me feeling like I was visiting an old relative.