Padme's Library: 1800s

Showing posts with label 1800s. Show all posts

Friday, July 24, 2026

🎅🎆📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation-Xmas in July🎥📘🎆🎅: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Summary:

First published on 19 December 1843, A Christmas Carol became an instant classic. Scrooge's transformation from grumpy miser to charitable figure carries a heart-warming message for the Christmas season - a time of peace and goodwill to all men.

Cruel miser Ebeneezer Scrooge has never met a shilling he doesn’t like...and hardly a man he does. And he hates Christmas most of all. When Scrooge is visited by his old partner, Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, he learns eternal lessons of charity, kindness, and goodwill. Experience a true Victorian Christmas!

With original illustrations by John Leech and an introduction by G. K. Chesterton, this deluxe edition makes a wonderful gift or collectible for adults and children alike.

Original Blog Review December 2014:

Not all of Charles Dickens' work is among my reading list but A Christmas Carol is my favorite of all. It's the best Christmas tale, in my opinion. At the heart of the story is what so many of us tend to forget, although perhaps not to the extent as Ebenezer Scrooge has, and that is that heart and kindness is more important than wealth.

“And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that [Christmas] has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”

And I think the final quote from the book says more about why I love the book so much than any words I could come up with.

“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

Re-Read Review 2017:

There was a time when I read A Christmas Carol annually but since starting my book blog it seems I that life just hasn't allowed me the time to read it yearly. So I decided that I would make time this year to give it a read and its just as good as its always been. I wish I could say we don't need to be reminded of what should be important to us at Christmastime but everyone is always so busy that the Christmas spirit doesn't stay with us the way it should. Charles Dickens has a way of making us remember and I love him for it. Merry Christmas everyone and if you aren't one to celebrate, try to remember that the true meaning of the story and the lessons Ebenezer Scrooge learns still rings true for you too and for every day: kindness and goodwill to your fellow man should never be far from your heart.

Re-Read Review 2019:

This book just never gets old. Frankly, if there ever was a time we need to be reminded of what is truly important in life it's now. With all the strife and ignorance and intolerance in the world, it's never wrong to be reminded of what Christmas is all about. A Christmas Carol should be read throughout the year, not just during the holiday season. The lessons of kindness, decency, and acceptance to our fellow man should be lived every day. I don't mean to sound preachy or judgmental but Charles Dickens has a way of making the spirit of Christmas come alive in A Christmas Carol that often gets forgotten the other 364 days of the year. Truth be told, not only does it remind us of the holiday spirit it's a pretty darn great ghost story too😉😉.

Re-Read Review 2020:

The only thing I want to add to my previous reviews is that 2020 needs A Christmas Carol more than ever. We need to see the kindness all around more this year as there has been so much negativity, hatred, anger, and plain old fashioned heartbreak. No matter what form you read, listen, watch, take the lessons the Ghosts of Christmas teach Ebenezer Scrooge to heart. Charles Dickens may have had no idea what he was giving to the world or the impact it would have on humanity but for me the story never gets old and frankly I don't have to wait till Christmastime to enjoy it. A true classic delightful gem.

RATING:

Stave One
Marley's Ghost

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon' Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, his sole mourner.

Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name however. There it yet stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley He answered to both names. It was all the same to him.

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, was Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "My dear Scrooge, how are you? when will you come to see me?" No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his fife inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blindmen's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "no eye at all is better than an evil eye, darkmaster!"

But what did Scrooge care!

Once upon a time — of all the good days in the year, upon a Christmas Eve-old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, bitMg foggy weather and the city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already.

The door of Scrooge's countinghouse was open that he might keel) his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal litde cell beyond — a sort of tank-was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire., but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation Scrooge had of his approach.

"Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!"'

"Christmas a humbug, uncle! You don't mean that, I am sure."

"I do. Out upon merry Christmas. What's Christmas time to you buta time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a yearolder, and not an hour ri cher; a time for balanci ing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented deadagainst you? If I had my will, every idiot who goes about with 'MerryChristmas,' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, andburied with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!"

"Uncle!"

"Nephew! Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it mine."

"Keep it! But you don't keep it."

"Let me leave it alone, then. Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!"

"There are many things from which I might have derived good, bywhich I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I amsure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round-apart from the veneration due to its sacred origin, if anything belong' ingto it can be apart from that — as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitab1e, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of theyear, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-uphearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really werefellow-travellcrs to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound onother Journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded.

"Let me hear another sound from you," said Scrooge, "and you'll keep your Christmas by losing your situation. You're quite a powerful speaker, sir," he added, turning to his nephew. "I wonder you don't go into Parliament."

"Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow."

Scrooge said that he would see him — yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him 'in that extremity first.

"But why?" cried Scrooge's nephew. "Why

"Why did you get married?"

"Because I fell in love."

"Because you fell in love!" growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. "Good afternoon!"

"Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?"

"Good afternoon."

"I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?"

"Good afternoon."

"I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!"

A contemporary comedy based on Charles Dickens' novel "A Christmas Carol," focusing on a television executive who decides to exploit the holidays in order to boost ratings.

Release Date: November 23, 1988
Running Time: 101 minutes

Director: Richard Donner

Cast:
Bill Murray as Francis Xavier "Frank" Cross
Karen Allen as Claire Phillips
John Forsythe as Lew Hayward
John Glover as Brice Cummings
Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk
David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past
Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present
Robert Mitchum as Preston Rhinelander
Nicholas Phillips as Calvin Cooley
Michael J. Pollard as Herman
Alfre Woodard as Grace Cooley
Mabel King as Gramma
John Murray as James Cross
Wendie Malick as Wendie Cross
Brian Doyle-Murray as Mr. Cross

Mary Ellen Trainor as Ted

Lisa Mende as Doris Cross

Maria Riva as Mrs. Rhinelander

Kate McGregor-Stewart as Lady Censor

Kathy Kinney as IBC Nurse

Robert Hammond as the Ghost of Christmas Future (uncredited)

Cameos
Jamie Farr as Himself / Jacob Marley
Buddy Hackett as Himself / Ebenezer Scrooge
Robert Goulet as Himself
John Houseman as Himself
Lee Majors as Himself
Mary Lou Retton as Herself / Tiny Tim
Maria Riva as Mrs. Rhinelander
Miles Davis, Larry Carlton, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer as street musicians

1935 / 1938 / 1951

1970 / 1983 / 1988

1992 / 1997 / 1999

Charles Dickens

One of the grand masters of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors' prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and "slave" factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years' formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney's clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work.

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Sunday, January 11, 2026

🎅🎄Sunday's Short Stack🎄🎅: Christmas Below Stairs by Ellie Thomas

Summary:

Christmas Below Stairs #1

At the age of twenty-three, Joseph Paul has come a long way from an abandoned foundling to the dizzy heights of a position as a second footman in London’s Bedford Square. But Joseph doesn’t want to remain in service forever and harbours ambitions to be his own master.

Eli Turner might have become a valet by his thirties, but he is weary of his profession and lacks direction. He can’t even summon the energy to seek out a new position in a more prestigious household.

Under ordinary circumstances, working as servants for the same family, these two men might not have the chance to exchange more than a few words, let alone confide their feelings. But when they both remain in the virtually deserted townhouse over Christmas, they take the opportunity to talk as equals and explore their mutual attraction.

Is this just a short-lived holiday fling? Or might it be the start of a long-standing romance?

Original Review December 2024:

This short novella was released last Christmas but I just got around to reading it this year. My review here will be short and sweet, I don't wish to reveal too much so as not to spoil it for those like me just discovering it now.

Most of us probably don't think too much on the fact that there was(and probably still is in certain circles) a clear class distinction within the servant occupation, Christmas Below Stairs shows us what that looked like and how not only the employers or masters of the house perceived them, the servants themselves followed the lines as well. It's quite honest and lovely to see how Eli and Joseph, as well as young Tilly, battle those lines and eventually begin to erase certain stigmas that separate them.

Sometimes historicals can be hard to fully explore the depths of the eras in novellas/short stories but Ellie Thomas does it near perfectly. It is pretty obvious from those I've read she respects history but does so in a manner that balances reality and fiction so you don't feel like you're back in your high school history class. Below Stairs is a wonderfully entertaining and fun holiday read not to be missed.

RATING:

On a particularly damp, raw day, Joseph went to the chandler’s on the Strand to make an order to replenish the household’s supplies of candles. On the way back, nearing lunchtime, Joseph impulsively bought a couple of hot pies from a stall as he was passing, one for himself and the other for Tilly who looked like she could do with a hot meal.

The teenage serving girl’s eyes widened at such largesse. “For me?” She squeaked as though she had been offered the Crown Jewels rather than mutton and gravy wrapped in pastry.

She’d fallen upon the meal like she hadn’t seen food in a week. Not that they went short in this household. The cook kept them well-fed and in her absence, basic supplies of fresh food were still delivered to feed the surplus servants. It was more that as the youngest, lowliest and least regarded servant in the pecking order, Tilly was accustomed to being of no regard.

Joseph might be robust, but he remembered being small and overlooked, where a treat took on a huge significance. He sat at the table and started on his hot pie as Tilly devoured her food. He paused when he saw Mr. Turner enter the room.

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Turner,” he said, aware that the air was redolent with the savoury scent of the pies. “I didn’t realise that you would be here for lunch.”

For a moment, Mr. Turner looked austere and Joseph wondered if he would be scolded for sullying the cook’s domain with offerings from a street vendor. But after some consideration, Mr. Turner smiled, suddenly appearing youthful and approachable. Joseph admired the transformation.

“I’ll just have to share with Tilly, then,” he joked as the kitchen girl put the final scrap of pastry in her mouth. “Don’t worry about me, Joseph. I’ll get something cold from the pantry. No, no,” he added as both of the younger staff started to rise. “Finish your meal. I’m perfectly capable of serving myself. There’s no need to stand on ceremony.”

But why are you still here? Joseph thought, not daring to ask the question aloud. Tilly remained for the essentials of housekeeping, including clearing, lighting and tending the kitchen fire. She’d confided to Joseph that she was also a foundling. The poor scrap has nowhere else to go.

But well-paid senior servants like Mr. Turner had diverse options. Joseph had assumed that like the cook and butler, Mr. Turner would take advantage of his employer’s absence by visiting family.

It’s not for me to speculate, Joseph thought. Not that I’m complaining. When Mr. Willars was in residence, Mr. Turner remained near his master’s quarters, in keeping with his position, but from the glimpses he’d caught of the valet around the house, he liked his looks and bearing. Joseph reckoned he was young for a valet, and comely with it. He assumed the dignity of his position without any pomposity. He might be distant in manner, but he was always polite to more junior staff as well as his equals. “Such a pleasant gentleman,” the housekeeper opined and the staff seemed to agree.

Height and muscle might be a prerogative of a footman rather than a valet, but Joseph thought no less of Mr. Turner for his lesser build. He had an economical way of moving and Joseph liked the sheen of his red-blond hair against his customary black coat.

If Joseph had come across the likes of Mr. Turner in a Covent Garden tavern, he wouldn’t have hesitated in striking up a conversation to see where it led. However, being employed in the same house meant that that route was firmly closed.

But seeing Mr. Turner, smiling and relaxed in a fitted brown coat that suited his complexion, Joseph’s interest was renewed. Especially as he had caught an unmistakable glance of appreciation from the valet at Joseph’s bronzed forearms displayed by his rolled-up shirt sleeves, resting on the table as he ate.

Below Stairs

Ellie Thomas

Ellie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader especially about anything historical. She mainly writes historical romance.

Ellie also writes historical erotic romance under the pen name L. E. Thomas.

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Christmas Below Stairs #1

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The Business of Christmas #2

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Friday, December 19, 2025

🎅📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘🎄: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Summary:

Experience Charles Dickens's Christmas masterpiece, featuring the authentic first-edition illustrations by John Leech that defined the story for generations.

When the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge dismisses Christmas as mere "humbug," he has no idea that his cold heart is about to be transformed forever. On a bitter Christmas Eve in Victorian London, Scrooge receives an otherworldly visitation from his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings a dire warning: three spirits will visit before dawn, offering one last chance at redemption. As the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come guide Scrooge through forgotten memories, hidden truths, and possible futures, he witnesses the true spirit of Christmas through the joy of his nephew's dinner and the humble celebrations of Bob Cratchit's family—including the unforgettable Tiny Tim.

Originally published on December 19, 1843, A Christmas Carol became an instant sensation, selling out its entire first edition by Christmas Eve. Dickens's timeless tale of transformation has shaped Christmas traditions for over 180 years, creating an unforgettable journey from darkness to light, from isolation to community, and from despair to hope that reminds us it's never too late to change and embrace the true meaning of Christmas.

This beautiful edition features:

Original, first-edition, high-quality illustrations by John Leech, the artist who first brought Scrooge, the spirits, and Victorian Christmas to visual life.

A comprehensive quiz at the end to test your knowledge of Scrooge's journey and the beloved characters.

The complete, unabridged text exactly as Dickens wrote it.

A unique cover design that captures the story's timeless appeal.

Easy-to-read typesetting that both children and adults can enjoy.

Free Family Reading Starter Kit – matching bookmark plus interactive Bingo game, discussion questions, and creative activities for reading classics together.

A Christmas Carol, the story that remains one of the most beloved tales ever written, will be the perfect gift for book lovers and a treasured addition to your holiday collection!

Original Blog Review December 2014:

“And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that [Christmas] has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”

And I think the final quote from the book says more about why I love the book so much than any words I could come up with.

“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

Re-Read Review 2017:

Re-Read Review 2019:

Re-Read Review 2020:

RATING:

Stave One
Marley's Ghost

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, was Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!

But what did Scrooge care!

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation Scrooge had of his approach.

"Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!"'

"Christmas a humbug, uncle! You don't mean that, I am sure."

"Uncle!"

"Nephew! Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it mine."

"Keep it! But you don't keep it."

"Let me leave it alone, then. Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!"

The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded.

"Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow."

Scrooge said that he would see him — yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him 'in that extremity first.

"But why?" cried Scrooge's nephew. "Why

"Why did you get married?"

"Because I fell in love."

"Because you fell in love!" growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. "Good afternoon!"

"Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?"

"Good afternoon."

"I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?"

"Good afternoon."

Misanthropic miser Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted by his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley's ghost is followed by three more spirits from Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Each has a lesson Scrooge must learn.