First Christmas by Katherine E Smith Review

The author, Katherine E Smith has written a series of books called Coming Back to Cornwall, and another series called Connections. The new novella First Christmas is the start of a new series of books, and features, as its setting, the Soulton Long Barrow in Shropshire. This book piqued my interest, as I am always looking for new Christmas reads, so when I saw the crowdfunding page advertised on Instagram, I decided to give it a go, despite not having read anything by Katherine previously.

The Plot

Ruth is the narrator of this tale, and a very engaging and thoughtful narrator she is. However, she is unusual in terms of her narration given the fact that she, or rather her ashes, reside in a Long Barrow, and she is telling the tale of her family’s first Christmas without her. Now this isn’t as big a spoiler as it looks, given that it is in the blurb on the back, and is very clear early on in the first chapter. It is also important to know this before reading in case the subject matter may be too close to home for many people.

Her family come to visit her, initially individually, as they try to come to terms with their loss in their different ways. Each chapter features one member of the family and their reaction to this first Christmas as a smaller family. The ways that they deal with the loss reflect the characters that Ruth now understands even better from her new vantage point. Their personal trials are interwoven with Ruth’s story as the novella develops. These family members are each wounded in their own ways, as we all are when we lose someone, and their ways of dealing with the loss inevitably cause friction and occasional hostility, but through it all, the importance of the family shines through.

The Characters

Ruth was, and in many ways remains, the glue that held the family together. Though she sees strains as the bonds of familial love tested, she is quite confident that these bonds will stretch rather than break. She has three children, Kitty, Annie and Tom. Kitty is the younger of the two sisters, and is creative, animal loving and single. That final point becomes quite interesting later on. She is seen as more sensitive than Annie, her married sister who has a sharp manner and social skills that leave her on the outside and misunderstood. Tom is now, in a sense, filling the role of that family glue, and it is clear that despite her attempts to be as even handed as possible, that Ruth has always felt closer to Tom emotionally. Graham, Ruth’s husband is now a widower who is finding it almost impossible to cope emotionally. He gets through the practical parts of life because he has to, but he is broken inside. The final character, Alex, is married to Annie, who takes him for granted, gets annoyed by him very easily and often belittles him. He is, on the surface, every inch the loyal and devoted husband, but underneath in his private thoughts, which Ruth now has access to, something worrying is stirring.

The Feeling

I deliberately entitled this section the feeling, because it is the feeling communicated by consummate writing that makes this book so magical. Ruth is, in a sense, just an ordinary woman, of the kind you could meet every day just walking down a street or going to work on a commuter train. Her access to the thoughts of her family does not make her omnipotent, merely far more understanding than she could have been in life with its incomplete picture. She is not an angel, full of goodness, although she has gained a measure of acceptance denied to the living, but she keeps a loving watch on her family and tries to make them aware of her presence in any way she can. Her family are real people, filled with sorrow in their time of mourning, a mourning that comes through every word that is written. This is the start of a new series, and it becomes clear that there are many issues to be resolved, as they continue their journey from raw grief to a measure of acceptance. They are real people with real feelings and I identified with each one of them in one way or another. Ruth’s love and sympathy shines through in a novella that doesn’t waste a single one of its 70 pages.

My thoughts

I think that, although it is the introduction to a new series, it can, very importantly, be read as a standalone novella. If you have been recently bereaved, it may well be a difficult read, but it may also be a very comforting read. The writing is amusing, moving and profound by turns, but what it always is, is absolutely beautiful. I just lost myself in this book, taking it slowly with a couple of short chapters each night before going to sleep. However, you could easily finish this in one sitting and find it just as rewarding. One of the delights of reading is finding a new author who you know you are going to love whatever they write. If you give this book a chance I predict that you will find that Katherine E Smith is one of those authors that will become a firm favourite.

To find out more about Katherine’s novels her website is the ideal place to start. Happy reading.