Nothing gets us more in the festive mood than a Christmas themed story. Set in the golden Edwardian era, Christmas with The Savages by Mary Clive tells the tale of a rather spoilt little girl Evelyn, an only child, who lives in a stuffy house in London with her parents and servants. When her father is taken ill, she’s sent to an old friend of her mother’s home – the marvellous grand old Tamerlane Hall for Christmas. The place is packed with a large house party of grown-ups, their twelve lively children and an array of servants.
The story whisks you into Evelyn’s world. Within hours of arrival becomes part of the group of children and weaves her way through the daily adventures and squabbles; the encounters with the grown-ups, from the laughing aunts to Aunt Muriel’s ‘awful husband’ and even the Old Lord Tamerlane.
Meet the characters
Evelyn – She’d rather talk to grown-ups than play with children but the unruly Savages soon sweep her along with their games and pranks. Evelyn is prone to pretentious behaviour and her attempts to impress the grown-ups are mostly ignored.
Lady Tamerlane – the matriarch of the house and grandmother to twelve. ‘Although she was old she was brisk, and although she was not playful she sometimes gave me half-crowns.’
The Savages – a rambunctious tribe of children. Two boys, Lionel and Harry, two girls, Rosamund and Betty, a baby and their nursemaids Minnie and May. Lionel is the resident playwright and leading star of his own theatre shows.
The Glens – Peggy and Peter spend their time in the nursery with the other children. Their older brothers are found with the grown-ups. The Glens are accompanied by a fierce little nurse with a sharp tongue!
The Howliboos – the third gaggle of children with a self-important nursemaid Nana Howliboo the children are prone to howling when given a fright!
Mrs Peabody – the housekeeper ‘with the cosiest sitting room in the house’, packed with a treasure trove of knick knacks.
Mr O’ Sullivan – the butler. He possesses the keys to forbidden rooms but is kindly in nature and happy to come to the aid of the children when they find themselves in a fix.
Marguerite – Evelyn’s Swiss nursery maid. ‘A poor frightened creature whom I treated like mud, and hardly spoke to anybody in any language.’
Tamerlane Hall – this is a grand house from another era that sets the children’s imaginations wild. The long corridors are made for races. The nooks and crannies and endless doors are just the place for long games of hide and seek. The garden is another source of adventure and home to the grotto incident. There’s even a life-sized statue of a greek god poking out of the rubbish tip.
So, hang the holly and the ivy, light the fire and snuggle down by the tree. Christmas with the Savages is jam-packed with festive spirit.
Christmas with the Savages is Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month
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