Christmas At Rachel’s Pudding Pantry by Caroline Roberts

To The Moon And Back

Christmas At Rachel’s Pudding Pantry by Caroline Roberts is the most delightful heart-warming contemporary novel that will really get you in the festive mood. It follows on from Rachel’s Pudding Pantry but can be read as a stand-alone. I would recommend reading both of these charming novels.

Christmas is a time for memories – remembering the old and making new. “Memories were catching up… the rawness of losing her Dad still a haunting feeling.” Loss is very acute. Rachel and her Mum, Jill ‘feel’ her father’s presence everywhere. Christmas heightens these feelings. Loss consumes but seems to hurt even more when suicide is involved. (I am not giving any plot away as this happened before the opening of book one)

Snow covers the ground as Christmas approaches but farm work must go on. Neighbours pull together when disaster threatens. The sense of community pervades the novel.

With holiday makers long gone, a new venture begins – the pudding club. This fosters an atmosphere of community as strangers become friends. “The Pudding Club… a place for community to meet up and … a sense of belonging.” The pudding club is “a little haven of friendship.”

The novel has the theme of fathers – not all are good role models but the losses are more than made up for by the care of the mothers and grandparents.

I loved the love, care and warmth that ran throughout the novel, enveloping the reader. With delicious descriptions from Caroline Roberts, the reader really ‘feels’ a part of the story as we journey through the action.

Peppered throughout are the mouth-watering recipes from the Pudding Club which I am dying to try.

Christmas At Rachel’s Pudding Club is a delightfully charming read infused with love, care and nostalgia. I adored it. I cannot wait to experience summer with Rachel and her family.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

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