This was one of Dickens's Christmas pieces published in the Christmas 1855 edition of the magazine Household Words which he edited. I don't know why this is not better known, as it is a lovely short piece of writing, full of pathos, heart warming scenes, humour and some ghostly goings on. The narrator Charley, believing his fiancée Angela has left him for his best friend Edwin in the run up to Christmas, resolves to escape to America to leave them to it. But he gets snowed in at the eponymous Yorkshire inn and is brought to mind of various ghostly and humorous goings on in other inns he has frequented in his life, or in his imaginings. The boots in the inn tells him a story about a small boy and girl (aged 8 and 7) who ran away to Gretna Green to get married (a much more heartwarming story than it might sound to modern ears). When the snow melts, he comes across Edwin again, and it was all a misunderstanding, and he returns to Angela. A lovely piece. ( )

This is not, technically, a Christmas Story. It is deemed so because it was included as the Christmas offering in Dickens' All The Year Round periodical.

The story is actually several stories within a framework. A traveler is stranded at the Holly-Tree Inn because of a severe snow storm. The tales vary in quality and there is a narrative poem included that I quite enjoyed. Dickens performed this collection frequently, and I could imagine how delightful it would have been to have seen. ( )

a short story. A man believes his beloved is in love with his friend, so he determines to leave for America and forget his troubles. A snowstorm strands him at an inn, the Holly-Tree, and he thinks about all the inns he's been in. After the snowstorm his friend rides up with his new bride, who turns out to be the main character's beloved's cousin. So the main character goes back to his love and marries her. Just a short little narrative that is filled with Dicken's way of describing everything, very evocative. ( )

This collection of short stories was the 1855 Christmas edition of Dickens' Household Words. The seven stories by five different authors (Dickens contributed three) are presented as stories recounted to a snowbound traveller, whose own tale bookends the selection.

As you would expect, the collection encompasses a variety of themes and styles - there is a typically Gothic tale from Wilkie Collins and a piece in verse by Adelaide Anne Proctor - yet all are quintessentially Victorian stories. Some are better than others (I thought the contributions by Wilkie Collins and William Howitt were the strongest, and found Dickens' introductory tale a little tedious) but all are pleasant to read and they sit well together.

The 2009 Hesperus Press edition helpfully includes a short introduction, notes, and brief biographies of the contributors. It's also an attractive, high-quality edition, making a nice winter read for fans of Victorian writing. ( )

Although the Hesperus edition of this little collection of vaguely connected Victorian short stories is really quite nice, the stories themselves leave something to be desired. I had hoped to discover a new Victorian author to investigate, but the stories by the unknowns were either forgettable or somewhat confusing (the Australian one in particular seemed shaping up to be an intriguing tragedy of misjudgment, but then turned 'happy"), and those by Dickens and Collins were only of average interest. However, those who enjoy the Victorian short story (and don't have tremendously high hopes) likely won't find it a waste of their time.