A dysfunctional family reunites for the Christmas holiday from hell in this rediscovered
festive classic with fangs for fans of Barbara Pym Elizabeth Taylor and Stella Gibbons.
"Literary comfort and joy." Meg Mason author of Sorrow and Bliss The fire is on sherry
poured presents wrapped and claws are being sharpened. In a seaside cottage perched on a
cliff one family reunites for Christmas. While snow falls a tyrannical widowed matriarch
presides over her unruly brood. Her niece tends to her whims but fantasizes about eloping and
as more guests arrive each bringing their secret truths and dreams the Christmas tree
explodes a brawl erupts an escape occurs - and their "midwinter madness" climaxes...
