Faraway Smell of Lemon: From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

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In the Foreward, Joyce shares a story, a joke, about an actress playing the part of the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and someone asking her what the play is about. My favorite character of the seven stories has to be Binny, a forty-seven year old single mother. She is mentioned in both the first story, “The faraway smell of lemon” and the last one, “Trees“. Her live-in partner, Oliver, has just a few days before Christmas – left her… Binny’s heart has been broken. Oliver, her dreamy “out of work” actor boyfriend has fallen for another and moved out. Binny is the type of person who doesn’t show her true feelings, and doesn’t allow herself to cry. She gets on with things. But it’s all bottled up inside her, waiting to erupt. Maybe Joyce's forte does not lie in writing short stories, because a lot of them felt contrived, unrealistic, and abrupt. There were no explanation to fantastical things, there was no depth to the characters, and we didn't have enough time to become invested in any of the stories. Joyce chooses to write about ordinary and forgotten people, but sometimes her vision of chavvy types doesn’t quite ring true, and when she isn’t being melancholy she’s twee. “Christmas Day at the Airport” was so contrived it made me groan. While I don’t think any of her books are truly great, they’re pleasant, relatable and easy to read.

Trees: As if Christmas wasn't wearing enough, now his elderly parent is asking for a hole in the ground … Father and son break old habits and plant a tree to mark the start of the new year. It’s Christmas Eve, and Binny is not prepared. In fact, she wants to fast forward and skip Christmas this year all together.In Trees: much to Sal’s annoyance, Oliver agrees to his elderly father’s request to bring trees. It’s New Year’s Eve, his pregnant girlfriend wants to party, but his father has decided he needs to plant twenty trees to atone. He’ll need to borrow his ex’s van, but Binny is kind, and Oliver finds himself wishing for the company and comfort of her home, what used to be his too, before he messed up his life. It’s Christmas Eve, and Binny has only five hours to decorate her house and fix a proper dinner. Dropping her children off at school, she runs into town to do some last-minute shopping, yet her mind and heart are wholly elsewhere. Fighting off the sting of recent heartbreak, Binny stumbles into a small store, and in striking up conversation with the saleswoman she is suddenly overcome with memories of old friends, family, loves that have come and gone. And in this tiny shop, in the unlikely company of a complete stranger, Binny discovers a surprising sense of peace. Rachel's books have been translated into thirty-six languages. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards 'New Writer of the Year' in December 2012 and shortlisted for the 'UK Author of the Year' 2014. Description: Rachel Joyce's new collection "A Snow Garden and Other Stories" glides through the festive season with interlinked stories which delight and surprise. From an unexpected birth at an airport full of stranded travellers, a famous son wanting to escape the madness for a normal family dinner, to a divorced father's wish to give his two little boys the one thing they really want, a white Christmas. Five stories as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be. Now the nurse is a nice part for an older woman. She gets a few laughs...But let’s face it, she’s only she only has a few scenes and she’s not Juliet..the actress thinks very carefully about how best to summarize the plot of Romeo and Juliet and then she says, “Well, it’s all about this nurse.

We are at the centre of our own stories. And sometimes it is hard to believe that we are not at the centre of other people’s. But I love the fact that you can brush past a person with your own story so big in your mind and at the same time be a simple passer-by in someone else’s. A walk-on part.’ A quote from the forward: “We are at the centre of our own stories. And sometimes it is hard to believe that we are not at the centre of other people’s. But I love the fact that you can brush past a person with your own story so big in your mind and at the same time be a simple passer-by in someone else’s. A walk-on part.” I really liked her style, very straightforward, yet revealing the "full story" gradually through her interactions with and thoughts about others. Binny was a sympathetic character to whom I could relate, especially her aversion to cleaning house! ;) Though I gather this aversion was one symptom of her depression, resulting from repression of emotion, which becomes clear as the story unfolds. She has lost her parents not so long ago, but refused to cry or show her emotions at that time, then when her current "partner," Oliver ups and leaves her, confessing his affair with another woman who is now pregnant, she is beside herself yet still willing herself to remain stoic. In The Boxing Day Ball: eighteen-year-old Maureen is surprised by a genuine invitation from the local girls. They really seem to want her along, although her mother doesn’t approve. Maureen has no idea of just how life-changing a dance in the parish hall could be.The stories included in this volume are meticulously wrought, sincere tales of real life. With all of its sadness, joy, struggles, and achievements, they are above all, honest. They make the commonplace seem magical. They make the reader cry, laugh, and feel connected to their fellow humans in a way that makes fiction shine. On meeting the shop assistant, Binny discovers that for some people, cleaning can help them de-stress and refocus. The Marriage Manual: Christmas Eve. Two parents endeavour to construct their son's Christmas present from a DIY kit and in the process find themselves deconstructing their marriage. Perfect’s] unputdownable factor . . . lies in its exploration of so many multilayered emotions. There is the unbreakable bond between mother and son, the fear of not belonging . . . and how love can offer redemption.” —London Evening Standard , on Perfect

This is a small book containing seven short stories which revolve around peripheral characters that were cut from her other works, but whom she has been unable to let go of completely. She describes them as 'making a nuisance of themselves' so she decided to try and quieten them by giving them short stories of their own. I love that idea - the thought that these characters have a life of their own and won't settle until their story has been told. A literary treasury of interconnected short stories which shared a variety of themes and emotions, a more genuine look at the holiday season than most I’ve read. These aren’t all happy-happy stories about the joys of the holiday season, which made me love this collection even more. There is some terrific humor in these stories as well, which I always love, and as a special surprise, "The Boxing Day Ball" features Maureen, a young girl going to her first dance, and meeting her future husband, Harold Frye. In Christmas Day at the Airport: the reader gets all the elements of a nativity scene, but not in the conventional sense. There is indeed a very pregnant young woman (Magda) and her partner, Jo(hanna), three kings (Mrs King and her two daughters), a donkey (among other animals), (shop assistants dressed as) angels, and lambs (fluffy-toy-type). Also six Santas and a choir. Probably not a messiah, though…Beguiling . . . enthralls and moves you as it unfolds.” — People (four stars), on The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

This is a collection of short stories from the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The stories are linked with small references to each other and all each day in the Christmas week (though some are clearly different years). The store which Binny finds herself in, is one she would not normally visit. It contains cleaning products. Only cleaning products. Shelves of cleaning products. Lots and lots of cleaning products. Binny and domesticity aren’t the best of friends. This is not her type of store. Of the seven linked stories in this volume, my favorite has to be “The snow garden” – the title story. It tells of a father who has temporary custody of his two sons over the holidays. He has separated from his wife, due in part, to the fact that he has experienced some mental illness in the form of hallucinations. The story portrays the difficulties and the joys, the promises and the uncertainties of being a parent. I'll Be Home for Christmas The most famous boy in the world comes home hoping to escape the madness with a normal family Christmas. In A Snow Garden: Henry, divorced, disconnected from his sons, has the boys for six days over Christmas while Debbie goes on vacation. He has promised Owen, a sweet, innocent ten, and Conor, a sometimes snarky fifteen, snow; he has even, to the amusement of his sister, bought them sleds, at a marked-down price (the weather is balmy, snow is definitely not predicted). Henry is at the point of despair when he sees a snow garden, and then is once again concerned for his sanity.The only two I did enjoy were The Boxing Day Ball, which recounted how Maureen had first met Harold Fry and that did leave me feeling all fuzzy inside but unsatisfied. I wanted to read more. I wanted to know more about how Maureen and Harold met. I wanted to see them fall in love. It also made me feel sad, knowing how things had disintegrated with them in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. As read on Radio 4, seven linked stories set in the Christmas holidays - all as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be: I have to start this review with a humiliating admission - I have not read any of Rachel Joyce's other work. I know this is awful. I have a copy of The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry sat in my TBR pile and for some reason I just have not got round to reading it yet. I intend to rectify this very soon, having read A Snow Garden & Other Stories. It has to be said that I even enjoyed the forward. In it the author describes how the characters in this book were sort of ‘left-over’ from her other books. We readers get a tiny glimpse into the author’s mind and how she views the characters portrayed in her fiction. Peripheral characters in her other books whose appearance in them was very minimal, or cut out altogether. She cared enough about their stories that she felt they needed to be told. And I’m glad she did.