Best-selling author Claudia Carroll brings us tipsy carolling during the season, her favourite festive traditions and why books always make perfect stocking fillers for special friends and loved ones alike.
Early family Christmases in Claudia Carroll’s house had a magic feeling thanks to her father but no-one told her mischievous brother. ‘I think my earliest Christmas memory is my older brother telling me there was no such thing as Santa. I was about five and Dad used to go to loads of bother to keep it all up, shouting ‘Ho Ho Ho!’ around the hallway when we were in bed on Christmas Eve, leaving pretend snow footprints around the chimney and taking a bite out of the mince pie we’d left out for Rudolf. And horrible older brother would make a point of telling me, ‘you do know that’s Dad, don’t you?’ I never forgave him, but then I’m very elderly now and bitter…’
When she wasn’t getting her dreams cruelly shattered, Claudia could be found getting lost in one of beloved annuals. ‘I was a great one for Christmas annuals. The Bunty annual was a particular favourite. Remember Bunty? And the cut out wardrobe on the back page? Ahh…memories’
These days there’s still something extra special about giving and receiving books as gifts. ‘There really is something for everyone, from toddlers looking at cute furry animal books to a good juicy novel your Granny would love. And it’s so important to support local independent bookstores this Christmas too.’ As much as books can make perfect gift, make sure to match the book to the person- this advice comes too late for one of Claudia’s pals. ‘I was once given a book called ‘Don’t Call me Ma’am’ it was billed as an essential guidebook for forty-somethings who now wanted to be cougars and encouraging them to start dressing like seventeen year olds with hair extensions in Ugg boots. I think the pal who gave it to me was trying to tell me something’.
So to save you from offending anyone and help out the last minute shoppers out there looking for great stocking fillers Claudia has kindly let us in on her top 5 tips for Christmas books.’ As you’ll see, I’m trying my best to support the Irish gals this year’.
Number one on her list is Something from Tiffany’s by Melissa Hill. A fab, Christmassy read, set in New York on Christmas Eve, when two very different men are doing some last minute shopping for their respective girlfriends. In, where else, Tiffany’s iconic jewellery store on Fifth Avenue. Anyway, one buys his long term love a stunning engagement ring, while the other, a bit of a skinflint, makes do with a charm bracelet for his girlfriend. Naturally, there is a mix-up, each ends up with the wrong gift and there is mayhem to follow. Don’t want to give away the ending, but Melissa has written a well-crafted book with more twists in it than I could keep up with and …at the end of the day…what girl wouldn’t want to see something from Tiffany’s stuffed in her stocking in that famous blue box on Xmas morning?’ Can’t argue with Claudia there.
Claudia also recommends City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan. ‘A follow up to the wonderful Ellis Island and set in the 1930’s, this is the story of Ellie Hogan, who’s recently widowed and unable to cope with her grief, moves to the States in the throes of the Great Depression. Once there, she’s utterly shocked by what she sees all around her and so sets about pouring her energy into setting up a refuge for the homeless. But of course, the pull of Ireland and home is far stronger than she realised. A beautiful, poignant read, meticulously well researched. And it’s very interesting to read about the original Great Depression when we’re now in the middle of another one.’
What the Nanny Saw by Fiona Neill is another book that comes with Claudia’s seal of approval, ‘a gripping page-turner of a read about the financial crisis in the UK and particularly dealing with the fall of Lehmann Brothers. The story is set in London 2008, just before all the trouble first started when a penniless student goes to work as a nanny for billionaire family. They live the kind of privileged life she’s always dreamed of; throwing parties that Tony Blair comes to and Elton John sings at, that kind of thing. The heroine integrates easily into the family and for a time, enjoys the high life along with everyone else. However, when boom turns to bust and a scandal erupts, the family’s whole private life suddenly becomes public news. And pretty soon, the heroine realises she’s been witness to an awful lot of things she shouldn’t have.’
Sinead Moriarty is one of Claudia’s favourite authors and says she was very deservedly nominated for a Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Award for novel Me and my Sisters. ‘It’s the story of three sisters; all living very different lives and what happens when each one of them begin to unravel at the seams. One sister’s husband loses everything they jointly own, house, cars, the whole works, and soon her whole pampered existence is turned upside down. Former friends turn their back on her and only her sisters really stick by her.
Another sister is a mother to four small boys and has to cope to her husband’s infidelity while the third, a busy London-based lawyer, has to deal with unexpected pregnancy and her whole life and career going into freefall. But the bond between the three is astonishing to read and as usual, Sinead skilfully weaves humour and pathos side by side, making you devour every page and genuinely feel gutted when the story comes to an end. Highly recommended!’
Her final book to stick on your Christmas list is Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James. ‘One to please both fans of commercial fiction and crime, a very difficult feat to achieve. This takes up the famous Pride and Prejudice story some years after Jane Austen left it, where Lizzy and Darcy are now happily ensconced at Pemberly with two healthy sons in the nursery and all rosy between them. But one night, uninvited, Lydia, the youngest and most troublesome Bennet sister comes screaming into the house, saying that her husband Wickham has been murdered. A terrific read, this is not only a pitch perfect recreation of the world created in Pride and Prejudice, but combines one of PD James’ brilliantly crafted detective stories too. Not often you get a classical period romance combined with a good old fashioned whodunit!’ With all of Claudia’s tips, there is no excuse for not choosing the perfect page-turner this Christmas.
Far from being bitter from her brothers mischief, Claudia is full of festive cheer and these Decembers loves nothing more than socialising with friends. ‘My favourite festive tradition is meeting up with my actor pals in the Trocadero before everyone goes their separate ways at Christmas, wearing silly Santa hats, drinking way too much, and then belting out every Carol known to man. Drunkenly. You certainly couldn’t do it sober, and it’s testament to the eternal good nature of Robert Dogget, the manager there, that none of us have ever been kicked out for caterwauling.’
The New Year brings a new book for fans to look forward to, Claudia’s ninth book will be in shops soon. ‘I’ve got a new book out in the late Spring/early Summer called A Very Accidental Love Story.’ The romantic comedy follows newspaper editor Eloise Elliot who uses a sperm bank to become pregnant and then gives birth a year later to a beautiful little girl called Lily.
’The story kick-starts three years on when Lily has started play group and is starting to wonder why every other kid on her class has a Daddy and she doesn’t. Lily grows up a gifted child, and pretty soon Eloise herself becomes interested and then obsessed with finding out who the father really is. A leading cardiac surgeon, she reckons, or maybe even a conductor with the New York Philharmonic. Definitely someone highbrow, cultured and intelligent though, she assumes. Anyway, she sets about tracking him down and discovers he’s none of the above. He’s actually in prison with a police record the length of your arm. Of course, Eloise panics and tries to circumvent fate by setting this guy on the path to middle class-dom, so that in years to come, should her daughter try to track him down, she’ll find a Dad she can be proud of and not an ex-con sleeping rough and on a Methadone program. So, just like in My Fair Lady or Pygmalion, Eloise sets about making a gentleman of this rough diamond, like Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, except gender reversed!’
With another jam-packed year ahead of her, let’s hope Claudia gets her wish and receives some good books to curl up in front of the fire with this Christmas. ‘Don’t have anything at the moment, but (hint, hint) am hopeful I’ll have a mound of books to get through come Xmas Day.’
