Winterson's Christmas Days

Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days / Jeanette Winterson
London: Grove Press, 2017, c2016.
292 p.

I was happy to have read this book this year in my run-up to the holidays. I do like Winterson's work, and this little collection of stories is very much part of her own story. 

It's made up of a mixture of short fairy tales, realistic stories, and some traditionally eerie bits too. And at the end of each is a little explanation of why and how the story was written or some connection it has to her own life. Plus then there is a recipe to try (though I can't recommend the recipes to vegetarian readers; the pickings are slim there!) 

It's a strange combination, which wasn't fully convincing. I found some of the stories interesting, skipped others, and spent most of my reading time perusing the conversations following each of them rather than the short tales themselves. 

Some of the text is recognizable to those who've read her other works, particularly the memoirs. And some of it is simply of interest for the thoughtful musing that's going on. One of my own favourite bits is when she talks about her long friendship with writer Ruth Rendell, and how they spent Christmas together for many years. It was warm and holiday spiritish to read. And then there was this quote about one of my own favourite themes, the workings of memory:

Remembering isn't like visiting a museum: Look! There's the long-gone object in a glass case. Memory isn't an archive. Even a simple memory is a cluster. Something that seemed so insignificant at the time suddenly becomes the key when we remember it at a particular time later.We're not liars or self-deceivers -- OK, we are all liars and self-deceivers, but it's a fact that our memories change as we do. 

Anyhow, it's an unusual and interesting read set up for the season - Winterson explains the twelve days of Christmas and this book could certainly be read in that sequence if you followed it. I did find it a little bit fragmentary and had a sense that it was a very personal book, almost a commonplace book collecting her stories and thoughts around the holiday season. And recipes of course! So it wasn't a gripping read, but one to dip into here and there, again and again. 



You can find here An excellent review in The Guardian about the odd gallimaufrey that this book is.