Editions

  • Home
  • A Snow Garden and Other Stories
A Snow Garden and Other Stories

  • Imprint: Black Swan

  • ISBN: 9781784162047

  • Length: 224  Pages

  • Dimensions: 178mm x 14mm x 127mm

  • Weight: 141g

  • RRP: £8.99

A Snow Garden and Other Stories

  • From the bestselling author of 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:

A Faraway Smell of Lemon: The School Term has ended. It is almost Christmas but Binny, out last-minute shopping couldn't feel less like wishing glad tidings to all men. Ducking out of the rain she finds herself in the sort of shop she would never normally visit.

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.

Christmas at the Airport: A glitch in the system, travellers stranded and all sorts of lives colliding in the face of a sudden birth...

The Boxing Day Ball: Maureen has never been out with the local girls before. Who knew that a disco in the Village Hall could be life-changing?

A Snow Garden: Two little boys, dumped with their divorced father for his share of the Christmas holidays and none of them with a clue how to enjoy it.

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.

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.

  • Imprint: Black Swan

  • ISBN: 9781784162047

  • Length: 224  Pages

  • Dimensions: 178mm x 14mm x 127mm

  • Weight: 141g

  • RRP: £8.99

Reviews

  • Full of bittersweet Christmas moments. A real gem.

    Good Housekeeping

  • These stories are heartwarming.

    Imogen Lycett Green, Daily Mail

  • Joyce is warm and very funny, and she has a merciless eye for those nightmare moments when weaknesses are exposed and everything is called into question.

    Kate Saunders, The Times

  • The perfect tonic for tinsel-itis, [A Snow Garden] is laced with quietly devastating observations on love and marriage.

    Hephzibah Anderson, Observer

  • As sparkling and Christmassy as a selection box.

    Sunday Mirror

More from this Author

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her new novel, Miss Benson's Beetle, is published by Doubleday on 23 July 2020 Rachel's books have been translated into thirty-six languages and two are in development for film. 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. Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl. She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.

Rachel Joyce

Related articles

/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/rachel-joyce-my-music-article-snippet-788x306.jpg

Features

Rachel Joyce: the songs that saved me

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce is about a record shop owner haunted by his past, and how music can save us all. Here the author shares the songs that have helped her through tough times
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/jilly-cooper-writing-life-article-main-960x450.jpg

Features

Rachel Joyce

From dressing the part to taking frequent tea breaks, the prize-winning playwright and author outlines her writing day
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/new-beginnings-article.jpg

Features

Rachel Joyce on the significance of new beginnings

The author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry talks about the significance of new beginnings at any age

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.