The Authorized Version

I love to read novels—nice, fat, long novels that I can sink into and lose myself in the story with all the wonderful people I meet there. So, what could be better than a Christmas novel of, say 300-400 pages, or even 800 pages like my own Glastonbury?

Certainly—in a perfect world. A world where one had endless time to sit by a cozy fire and read and dream. Like in Eternity, maybe?

But that’s not how it works in my world today—and I doubt if it does in yours. So, I have a solution: A collection of Christmas short stories.

A Lighted Lamp, Scenes of Christmas Through Time, offers stories of a few pages that provide a quick, relaxing escape for those moments when you can just put your feet up with a quick cup of tea before you rush on to the next task.

For a complete getaway, leave the contemporary seasonal rush to spend a few minutes in your favorite historic period: From Scotland a thousand years ago to modern England, with visits to the American west in between, where queens, Regency ladies and pioneers celebrate Christmas with faith and festivities.

And let your time of refreshment take you to the deeper meaning of the season. These stories demonstrate that in all times and in all places, it has been universal to humankind to mark the darkest days of the year with a festival striving for the coming of the light. Our own Christmas celebrates not merely light, but, in its fullness, the coming of the Light of the World.

Covering almost a thousand years of history, these scenes take the reader to: Saxon Scotland, Medieval England, Regency England, Pioneer America, Depression Era America, 1970s America, and a contemporary monastery in England. Customs have changed, struggles have varied, but one constant has remained—the season has never failed to bring hope and joy.

And, an added bonus, if you want to read the whole story to know more about the characters, situations and time periods in these stories—they are all from complete books you can turn to when the holiday rush is over and you do have time for more leisurely reading. You can find them all here. 

For more information, see: Donna Fletcher Crow novels with Christmas stories.

List of my recommended Christmas reads