On Strike For Christmas….

Publication Date: Available Now from Piatkus

Source: Publisher Review Copy.

At Christmas time, it seems as though a woman’s work is never done. Trimming the tree, mailing the cards, schlepping to the mall, the endless wrapping – bah humbug! So this year, Joy and Laura and the rest of their knitting group decide to go on strike. If their husbands and families want a nice holiday filled with parties, decorations, and presents – well, they’ll just have to do it themselves.

Now then, I’m not one for Christmas. Very Bah Humbug me. I think it starts too early, goes on too long, has become way too commercial and is all about the stuff. Buy this buy that – if you can’t afford to get your children THE gift of the year SHAME ON YOU… and oh heavens have you SEEN how much food people buy to cover 2 days? The magic has been lost somewhat…well an awful lot. So it was interesting for me to read this novel to see if Sheila Roberts could ignite some Christmas spirit in me…

Well she did. I really enjoyed it – not my type of book usually to be fair, but I rattled through it at a fair pace, often giggling and totally absorbed. As the Knitting club band together to try and get their husbands more involved in the nitty gritty of Christmas, it is a very enjoyable and what I call “popcorn” read – perfect for the season. By the end I was actually quite excited to get wrapping up presents, looking out the tree decorations and generally feeling much more like I was going to enjoy the holiday…

Ms Roberts writes with a very bubbly style that is quite old school yet enchanting. Bob Humbug had me laughing away and as the strike takes on a life of its own in the media and everyone gets involved, there is a little moral here about what I was mentioning earlier – the really important stuff, how we treat each other and how we support each other, especially within close relationships. So overall then as a fun read with a bit of a message it was really very good.

For me there was a little niggle – this is very throwback – using a gender stereotype when it comes to the roles men and women play in family life, roles which are so often reversed these days – the families in this story were very 50’s if you know what I mean. It was appropriate to the tale being told of course, but on a very personal note I kind of wished that Sheila Roberts had mixed it up a little – but thats just me and overall it was a highly enjoyable story.

So if  you are a little bar humbug this year – pick up a Christmas story, it does help!  This one might work nicely.

Find out more here: http://www.sheilasplace.com/

Follow the Author on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/_Sheila_Roberts

Purchase Information: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/sheila+roberts/on+strike+for+christmas/11160223/

Happy Reading Folks!