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Christmas with the Savages
CHRISTMAS WITH THE SAVAGES by Mary Clive is based on real events and people. It is the story of a small girl's Christmas holiday in a large Edwardian country house is effortlessly funny. At Tamerlane Hall, Evelyn finds a horde of children: the gentle Glens, the plaintive Howliboos, and above all, the uninhibited Savages. They are controlled - or not - by a host of parents, supernumerary Uncles and Aunts, Nannies and nurserymaids. Evelyn survives the Christmas festivities - just - returning home none too soon! Seen through the eyes of a prim little eight-year-old, this is an amusing and touching account of a childhood a hundred years ago.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1955
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 26, 2016
Mary Clive's Christmas with the Savages was the perfect children's classic to read in December. It's about Evelyn, an 8-year-old who much prefers the company of adults to other children. Evelyn is dismayed when she is sent toTamerlane Hall, a large Edwardian house in the countryside, where she finds more children than she's ever experienced before – the Glens, the Howliboos, and the Savages.
Christmas with the Savages was a delightful festive read, full of humour. It's based on Mary Clive's own experiences growing up – and it was lovely to be transported into this eccentric family's holiday celebrations. All the children are left to roam the house and gardens, so it's full of hilarious escapades and antics. I loved Evelyn's prim and proper opinion on just about everything, from the youngest of children to the Nannies, who can't quite cope with all 13 children!
Christmas with the Savages is a classic I only discovered this year and I'm so very glad I did. If you're participating in the 2016 Classics Challenge, be sure to consider this one for December!
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
Christmas with the Savages was a delightful festive read, full of humour. It's based on Mary Clive's own experiences growing up – and it was lovely to be transported into this eccentric family's holiday celebrations. All the children are left to roam the house and gardens, so it's full of hilarious escapades and antics. I loved Evelyn's prim and proper opinion on just about everything, from the youngest of children to the Nannies, who can't quite cope with all 13 children!
Christmas with the Savages is a classic I only discovered this year and I'm so very glad I did. If you're participating in the 2016 Classics Challenge, be sure to consider this one for December!
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
December 25, 2023
The second set of Savages back-to-back, though not linked with the first at all, except that both books have children in them with this one focusing on them more than on the adults.
But before I say anything about the book itself, I just have to say that my new favourite word (noun/adjective, whichever one sees it as) is Howliboo! I loved it the moment I read it and am sure will be using it often!
Back to the beginning now. When Arpita from a Bag Full of Books announced over on her Instagram page a readalong of Christmas with the Savages, I was immediately interested as from the cover itself it looked a lovely children’s book and the author Mary Clive was a completely new name to me. So I went ahead and ordered a copy. Lady Mary Clive or Mary Katherine Clive (who died in 2010 at the age of 102) was the author of memoirs of her family, some biographies (John Donne and Edward IV) as well as a handful of novels written under the pseudonym Hans Duffy. A debutante in 1926, she wrote amusing memoirs (Brought Up and Brought Out) of her experiences and the rather disappointing crop of young men (‘bumper dowdy year’) whom she and others met. Christmas with the Savages (1955), though fictionalised, is based on Christmas spent with her mother’s parents, the Earl and Countess of Jersey and the various children portrayed are based on her own brothers and sisters and cousins.
Christmas with the Savages is narrated in the voice of the fictional Evelyn, about eight years old, the only child of wealthy parents in London, brought up with every comfort and also a little spoiled perhaps (by the standards of the day) being allowed in the drawing room regularly unlike others of her age. Being mostly on her own, Evelyn is accustomed to thinking herself rather grown up, and carries herself with various airs and graces. As the book opens, we see in a typical scenario that Evelyn’s parents are away in Scotland where her father has taken ill, with the result that they won’t be back as planned and Evelyn is to spend Christmas with her mother’s friend Lady Tamerlane, whom she remembers as ‘brisk’ and ‘not playful’ but who sometimes gave her half crowns. But she won’t be ‘alone’; there will also be Lady Tamerlane’s grandchildren, the Savages. On the train down from Paddington with her maid she meets them, Lionel the oldest, absorbed in his book, Betty, fat and round, the youngest in her picture book, and Rosamund and Harry in the middle, out to classify everyone they meet as Cavalier or Roundhead. There’s also a baby who stays with his nurse. Unused to children Evelyn is somewhat taken aback by their constant chatter and chanting of poems. At Tamerlane Hall are also the Glens, Peter and Peggy and the older Malcolm and Alister who sit with the grownups, and the smaller and pretty ‘Howliboos’, the eldest of whom is Tommy and whose real surnames we never learn, nor indeed the other children’s names as they are much too young to play.
As the visit carries on, the children get up to various antics, from reciting poetry to playing games, besides (when the weather is good) going out for walks and rides and exploring the house itself (a rather interesting old place). Then there are the Christmas celebrations of course and other little entertainments, including the putting up of a play (which needless to say turns out hilarious in its performance), the writing of a magazine and even the running of a marathon, as we also witness the interactions and dynamics between the children
This turned out a charming and humorous read, which though surprisingly not strongly Christmassy, gives one a delightful look into childhood (and more broadly life in a typical country home) in Edwardian England.
I liked how each of the children has their different personality and quirks, all of which we see through the eyes of Evelyn—Betty for instance (and it is she who is our author, and not Evelyn) strongly voices her opinions against anything she thinks is untrue, not sparing even her grandmother; Lionel is the leader, writer of plays but also quite cruel to poor Peter Glen, though the others do manage to get him back. Evelyn herself is keen to be taken notice of by the grown-ups, seen as a ‘grown up’ (the Savages to her are ‘childish’) and seeks admiration, but it is apparent that she is very much a child and starts to almost enjoy being part of the group, and even getting up to mischief of her own (including snatching a mouthful of jelly on the sly and then not knowing what to do with it for swallow it, she can’t). She enjoys playing with little Tommy Howliboo too, though she mayn’t want to admit it, but does admit she doesn’t treat her nurse too well. The grown-ups are good fun too, not your typical stuffy adults, with some admitting the mischief they committed as children, Papa Savage sharing quite a good relationship with his ever-curious children and having some wise things to say, and Lady Tamerlane too (though she insists on calling Evelyn Everline, even though Evelyn has corrected her) kind to them in her own way. No one minds their mischief, even the governesses (and the butler Mr O’Sullivan) overlooking their tricks, except when they do sometimes take things too far. But by and large, they are allowed to do as they please and have a grand time of it. Their relationships and dynamics do keep changing of course, as things between children do, and it is interesting to watch these unfold.
As I mentioned, this wasn’t contrary to expectation a book that felt entirely Christmassy but that doesn’t mean we don’t get any Christmas either. In fact, I loved seeing the Christmas celebrations, from decorations being put up (including by the children in their rooms) to the stockings going up, the anticipation over what they would contain, preparations (nice and not-so-nice) to welcome Santa and the opening of presents from others, dancing and feasting.
There is plenty of humour in here, in the writing, the various characters and their antics, and there re plenty of laughs all through.
I’m not sure if the original version had illustrations across the book, but this Puffin ed I got has lovely pictures by Phillip Gough at the start of each chapter giving one a perfect flavour of what’s to come.
A gentle and amusing tale of a simpler time when children could simply be children, entertaining themselves with their imaginations and enjoying themselves thoroughly.
3.75 rounded off
But before I say anything about the book itself, I just have to say that my new favourite word (noun/adjective, whichever one sees it as) is Howliboo! I loved it the moment I read it and am sure will be using it often!
Back to the beginning now. When Arpita from a Bag Full of Books announced over on her Instagram page a readalong of Christmas with the Savages, I was immediately interested as from the cover itself it looked a lovely children’s book and the author Mary Clive was a completely new name to me. So I went ahead and ordered a copy. Lady Mary Clive or Mary Katherine Clive (who died in 2010 at the age of 102) was the author of memoirs of her family, some biographies (John Donne and Edward IV) as well as a handful of novels written under the pseudonym Hans Duffy. A debutante in 1926, she wrote amusing memoirs (Brought Up and Brought Out) of her experiences and the rather disappointing crop of young men (‘bumper dowdy year’) whom she and others met. Christmas with the Savages (1955), though fictionalised, is based on Christmas spent with her mother’s parents, the Earl and Countess of Jersey and the various children portrayed are based on her own brothers and sisters and cousins.
Christmas with the Savages is narrated in the voice of the fictional Evelyn, about eight years old, the only child of wealthy parents in London, brought up with every comfort and also a little spoiled perhaps (by the standards of the day) being allowed in the drawing room regularly unlike others of her age. Being mostly on her own, Evelyn is accustomed to thinking herself rather grown up, and carries herself with various airs and graces. As the book opens, we see in a typical scenario that Evelyn’s parents are away in Scotland where her father has taken ill, with the result that they won’t be back as planned and Evelyn is to spend Christmas with her mother’s friend Lady Tamerlane, whom she remembers as ‘brisk’ and ‘not playful’ but who sometimes gave her half crowns. But she won’t be ‘alone’; there will also be Lady Tamerlane’s grandchildren, the Savages. On the train down from Paddington with her maid she meets them, Lionel the oldest, absorbed in his book, Betty, fat and round, the youngest in her picture book, and Rosamund and Harry in the middle, out to classify everyone they meet as Cavalier or Roundhead. There’s also a baby who stays with his nurse. Unused to children Evelyn is somewhat taken aback by their constant chatter and chanting of poems. At Tamerlane Hall are also the Glens, Peter and Peggy and the older Malcolm and Alister who sit with the grownups, and the smaller and pretty ‘Howliboos’, the eldest of whom is Tommy and whose real surnames we never learn, nor indeed the other children’s names as they are much too young to play.
As the visit carries on, the children get up to various antics, from reciting poetry to playing games, besides (when the weather is good) going out for walks and rides and exploring the house itself (a rather interesting old place). Then there are the Christmas celebrations of course and other little entertainments, including the putting up of a play (which needless to say turns out hilarious in its performance), the writing of a magazine and even the running of a marathon, as we also witness the interactions and dynamics between the children
This turned out a charming and humorous read, which though surprisingly not strongly Christmassy, gives one a delightful look into childhood (and more broadly life in a typical country home) in Edwardian England.
I liked how each of the children has their different personality and quirks, all of which we see through the eyes of Evelyn—Betty for instance (and it is she who is our author, and not Evelyn) strongly voices her opinions against anything she thinks is untrue, not sparing even her grandmother; Lionel is the leader, writer of plays but also quite cruel to poor Peter Glen, though the others do manage to get him back. Evelyn herself is keen to be taken notice of by the grown-ups, seen as a ‘grown up’ (the Savages to her are ‘childish’) and seeks admiration, but it is apparent that she is very much a child and starts to almost enjoy being part of the group, and even getting up to mischief of her own (including snatching a mouthful of jelly on the sly and then not knowing what to do with it for swallow it, she can’t). She enjoys playing with little Tommy Howliboo too, though she mayn’t want to admit it, but does admit she doesn’t treat her nurse too well. The grown-ups are good fun too, not your typical stuffy adults, with some admitting the mischief they committed as children, Papa Savage sharing quite a good relationship with his ever-curious children and having some wise things to say, and Lady Tamerlane too (though she insists on calling Evelyn Everline, even though Evelyn has corrected her) kind to them in her own way. No one minds their mischief, even the governesses (and the butler Mr O’Sullivan) overlooking their tricks, except when they do sometimes take things too far. But by and large, they are allowed to do as they please and have a grand time of it. Their relationships and dynamics do keep changing of course, as things between children do, and it is interesting to watch these unfold.
As I mentioned, this wasn’t contrary to expectation a book that felt entirely Christmassy but that doesn’t mean we don’t get any Christmas either. In fact, I loved seeing the Christmas celebrations, from decorations being put up (including by the children in their rooms) to the stockings going up, the anticipation over what they would contain, preparations (nice and not-so-nice) to welcome Santa and the opening of presents from others, dancing and feasting.
There is plenty of humour in here, in the writing, the various characters and their antics, and there re plenty of laughs all through.
I’m not sure if the original version had illustrations across the book, but this Puffin ed I got has lovely pictures by Phillip Gough at the start of each chapter giving one a perfect flavour of what’s to come.
A gentle and amusing tale of a simpler time when children could simply be children, entertaining themselves with their imaginations and enjoying themselves thoroughly.
3.75 rounded off
December 22, 2017
I had never even heard of this book - first published in 1955 - but an attractive new edition from Puffin will make it very popular with the crowd (probably more adult readers than children) who loved Downton Abbey. It's the lightly fictionalised tale of author Mary Clive's (born Lady Mary Katharine Pakenham) Edwardian childhood in grand houses.
Evelyn is the 8 year old protagonist, and when her father is injured in Scotland, she is packed off with her Swiss nursery maid to Tamerlane Hall - where she joins the four Savage children and their cousins Glens and Howliboos for the Christmas holiday. Evelyn is an only child, and she acknowledges that this privileged position allows her more access to the drawing room than was usual for children her age; she notes that 'I believe visitors thought me spoilt and a bore'. In fact, the author was not Evelyn at all - but apparently one of the younger children in the raucous clan that the author describes as the 'Savages'. (There is some very interesting biographical information about the author at the end of the book.) The set-up of the book allows the reader to enjoy Evelyn's priggish desire to side with and please the grown-ups, whilst also joining in (with varying degrees of success) with the antics of the various children.
There are several distinct pleasures in this period piece. First of all, there are wonderful details in this upstairs/downstairs saga, and anyone interested in the Edwardian era will enjoy the glimpse into the fashions, traditions and mores of English life on a grand scale. The house itself is beautifully described, in all of its many nooks and crannies (grottos, attics and still-rooms). There are also some moments of universal recognition - particularly in the way that Christmas morning is described, with its intense, half-sick rapture of anticipation. There are some truly humorous moments in the book, too - and I laughed out loud several times at the set-piece of the children's theatrical, where Evelyn totally lets herself down in its creator Lionel's eyes. 'Stop smiling or I will kill you!' I particularly enjoyed the last third of the book, in which Evelyn really hits her stride - and the childish mischief-maker masters the prig in her personality.
I think that I would have loved this book as 12 year old, and I would certainly recommend it to the many Anglophile readers I know who appreciate the setting and manners of a bygone world. 3. 5 stars
Evelyn is the 8 year old protagonist, and when her father is injured in Scotland, she is packed off with her Swiss nursery maid to Tamerlane Hall - where she joins the four Savage children and their cousins Glens and Howliboos for the Christmas holiday. Evelyn is an only child, and she acknowledges that this privileged position allows her more access to the drawing room than was usual for children her age; she notes that 'I believe visitors thought me spoilt and a bore'. In fact, the author was not Evelyn at all - but apparently one of the younger children in the raucous clan that the author describes as the 'Savages'. (There is some very interesting biographical information about the author at the end of the book.) The set-up of the book allows the reader to enjoy Evelyn's priggish desire to side with and please the grown-ups, whilst also joining in (with varying degrees of success) with the antics of the various children.
There are several distinct pleasures in this period piece. First of all, there are wonderful details in this upstairs/downstairs saga, and anyone interested in the Edwardian era will enjoy the glimpse into the fashions, traditions and mores of English life on a grand scale. The house itself is beautifully described, in all of its many nooks and crannies (grottos, attics and still-rooms). There are also some moments of universal recognition - particularly in the way that Christmas morning is described, with its intense, half-sick rapture of anticipation. There are some truly humorous moments in the book, too - and I laughed out loud several times at the set-piece of the children's theatrical, where Evelyn totally lets herself down in its creator Lionel's eyes. 'Stop smiling or I will kill you!' I particularly enjoyed the last third of the book, in which Evelyn really hits her stride - and the childish mischief-maker masters the prig in her personality.
I think that I would have loved this book as 12 year old, and I would certainly recommend it to the many Anglophile readers I know who appreciate the setting and manners of a bygone world. 3. 5 stars
December 28, 2023
This is a fun Christmas story! Mary Clive captures a child's perspective so well. I think that was my favorite part and the source of many funny moments. I laughed out loud quite a lot. I didn't find any of the children very likable though. They're not quite as awful as Barbara Robinson's Herdman family, but they're toward that end of the spectrum. I prefer reading about kids who get into scrapes but who are more goodhearted and thoughtful and less ruthless (a kid kind of ruthless!). This did ring true to other late Victorian-Edwardian childhood memoirs I've read though with the kind of behavior from the kids and the rather stark segregation between parents and children. It's rather bizarre from a modern viewpoint that kids would spend so many time with nannies, but there you have it.
January 2, 2025
it felt like these children were so badly behaved while reading this book, but I don’t think they were actually that bad looking back. No, actually, I think they were pretty bad - or maybe it was just the fact that they don’t get in trouble for anything they do that made them feel even worse than they were
Also, this was far less Christmassy than I was expecting for a book with Christmas in the title
Also, this was far less Christmassy than I was expecting for a book with Christmas in the title
December 9, 2020
I am really disappointed. This was published by Penguin - Puffin edition, an early 20th century novel written by a woman about a little girl spending the Christmas in a nice house full of other children. It gives you Ballet Shoes or Secret Garden impression, right? I had it, too. Don't get your hopes up.
It turned out to be a dull story, without any entertainment or Christmas fun. I hated the narrator, that was added to the unsatisfying story too. I don't see how this book can glue a child to it, not appealing at all.
So, how could I not be disappointed. I even skim-read after about 20-30 pages and finished the book in about 30 minutes.
I hope I didn't read all good Christmas books as I am reading 2 more right now and those are in a way disappointing, too. I am still waiting to find a good and heartwarming book.
It turned out to be a dull story, without any entertainment or Christmas fun. I hated the narrator, that was added to the unsatisfying story too. I don't see how this book can glue a child to it, not appealing at all.
So, how could I not be disappointed. I even skim-read after about 20-30 pages and finished the book in about 30 minutes.
I hope I didn't read all good Christmas books as I am reading 2 more right now and those are in a way disappointing, too. I am still waiting to find a good and heartwarming book.
December 14, 2023
4.5🌟 A surprisingly fun and entertaining book!
The story is like a very slow train wreck—you can't help but look (in this case, read) even though you know nothing good is going to come out of it. Eeek!
Luckily, Mary Clive's writing is wonderful, amusing and so much fun. There's a lot of dry humor (which I like) and even more children's craziness (which I don't like as much). I kept saying to myself, "Did children really act like that in those days??"
Overall, it was ridiculous and highly enjoyable book. You can't get any more Christmas-y than this book, but it was certainly not cozy or relaxing. I can see why children would love reading this.
Many thanks for Arpita (@bagfullofbooks on IG) for recommending this book to me! She always has the best book suggestions, especially when it comes to Christmas books 😍🎄
The story is like a very slow train wreck—you can't help but look (in this case, read) even though you know nothing good is going to come out of it. Eeek!
Luckily, Mary Clive's writing is wonderful, amusing and so much fun. There's a lot of dry humor (which I like) and even more children's craziness (which I don't like as much). I kept saying to myself, "Did children really act like that in those days??"
Overall, it was ridiculous and highly enjoyable book. You can't get any more Christmas-y than this book, but it was certainly not cozy or relaxing. I can see why children would love reading this.
Many thanks for Arpita (@bagfullofbooks on IG) for recommending this book to me! She always has the best book suggestions, especially when it comes to Christmas books 😍🎄
January 5, 2022
Eight year old Evelyn enjoys her peaceful life as an only child in London. Her routine is shaken up when her father is taken ill and she has to spend Christmas with a friend of her mother’s, Lady Tamerlane, at her large country house. She is thrown into the company of Lady Tamerlane’s numerous boisterous grandchildren, who have many customs, rituals and games that Evelyn does not understand. Evelyn struggles to keep up with the Savages, but often finds herself at sea. This is a very amusing portrait of an opulent upper class Edwardian Christmas, partly drawn from Mary Clive’s own experiences, as she also came from a large eccentric upper class family, though she was only three when the Edwardian era ended. You can see how the children, left largely to their own devices, developed a rich imaginative world to inhabit. You can read about Mary Clive’s own childhood in her entertaining memoir ‘Brought Up and Brought Out’ (written under her maiden name Mary Pakenham) and the equally entertaining ‘’Five out of Six’ by her sister Violet Powell.
November 22, 2024
“Meh” from me. It had all the ingredients to be charming—I’m especially interested in what children come up with while using their imaginations, and learning about old-timey nursery and parlour games! However, I found myself continually skimming in boredom with this one. I made it to the end to see if anything happened. Spoiler Alert-it didn’t. 😒
December 19, 2019
Amusing, though I was expecting a bit more Christmas - it might as well have taken place at any time of the year.
November 23, 2015
I just happened to see this book at the till in a bookshop and seeing that it was half price, I thought I would give it ago ( even though it was a children's book). Set at the turn-of-the-century, Evelyn is sent away at Christmas to stay with the Savages - the unruly grandchildren of an old friend of her mother's Lady Tamerlane. Any other child would perhaps relish the thought of spending time with children her own age but not Evelyn. Wise beyond her years, Evelyn much prefers the company of adults so her stay with the Savage children will not be an enjoyable experience.
If I had been reading this book as a child, it would've been very enlightening about how children at the turn of the last century spent their childhoods.
Although the main character of Evelyn is invented, this story is based upon Mary's own experience of growing up in the first 20 years of the last century.
A very enjoyable story for both adults and children with plenty of humour for all ages!
If I had been reading this book as a child, it would've been very enlightening about how children at the turn of the last century spent their childhoods.
Although the main character of Evelyn is invented, this story is based upon Mary's own experience of growing up in the first 20 years of the last century.
A very enjoyable story for both adults and children with plenty of humour for all ages!
March 27, 2011
It's always an awkward position to review a book given to you by a family member. One they loved. And specially ordered from England for each member of the family.
And you didn't like it.
I didn't find it very entertaining and I didn't find it that humorous.
I guess I'm not the British-junkie I thought I was.
And you didn't like it.
I didn't find it very entertaining and I didn't find it that humorous.
I guess I'm not the British-junkie I thought I was.
October 30, 2015
hilarious it's funny every page an example "your spending Christmas with the savages Evelyn. Oh there cannibals?" Amazing
November 27, 2024
A worthy cousin to Nurse Matilda.
February 6, 2023
This got solid 4 stars not because it would be an excellent classic full of life changing well formulated thoughts, but simply because it had me laughing out loud every few minutes. It’s the perfect light holiday read. The writing style is witty and makes one fully feel like an 8 year old again, even though the events of this book were set more than a hundred years ago.
July 4, 2017
This was a lovely read. It is a very slight (in length but also in content) book about a posh Edwardian Christmas from the point of view of a child. I enjoyed the details of Edwardian life, and the children get into all kinds of amusing scrapes. It's a funny book, although it gave me a bit too much of a sense of the author working hard to make adults laugh in a "kids say the darnedest things" sort of way, which was a little annoying. The children were very ridiculous and twee in a way that felt too affected. But they do indeed say and do some funny things, and the children are pretty dreadful and rambunctious. It's a thinly-veiled memoir, and you can certainly feel that. It is not at all heart-warming, which I did appreciate in a Christmas story.
January 5, 2016
What a FUN READ!
December 8, 2020
Evelyn spends Xmas with her cousins when her father is taken ill in Scotland. This made me laugh out loud reading of the escapades the children get up to over the holidays.
May 17, 2021
“What English childhood was like for nearly a hundred years”
Read
December 21, 2022Didn't finish. Too dull.
June 28, 2017
Christmas With the Savages is a kind of fictionalized memoir. The characters are about eleven children between the (implied) ages of 4-12. The setting is an Edwardian, English, upper-class Christmas gathering. This comic novel was first published in 1955, and was an attempt by its author to show her own children what her childhood was like. Most of the characters are based on her own family members.
In the novel, eight-year-old Evelyn is sent to spend Christmas with family friends, including three sets of cousins (the Savages, et al.). She is both repelled and attracted by their exuberant behavior and misadventures. No lessons are learned - it's not that kind of book. It's about nostalgia, and humor.
The humor, though, must have worked better on its original audience, those who had grown up in that world. I kind of felt like a stranger, not quite getting the jokes, not exactly understanding the references.
Although a lot of the tropes were foreign - the politics of nannies are quite outside my experience - I will say that Christmas with the Savages does one thing very well. It effectively evokes the exasperated stress of a group of children who may not necessarily know or like each other, being shoved together and told to go play.
I think my favorite part was when the children explored the attic and discovered a crawlspace through the rafters. This, I could relate to, since it was something I had always yearned to do as a kid. Alas, my grandparents lived in ranch houses and bungalows and no one had a real attic.
I might have liked it better if the children had been more likable. Evelyn declares that she treats he own nanny "like mud" and doesn't care a bit. The others aren't any better. As it is, they are kind of brats - or, at least, young people who have not yet developed a sense of empathy.
In the novel, eight-year-old Evelyn is sent to spend Christmas with family friends, including three sets of cousins (the Savages, et al.). She is both repelled and attracted by their exuberant behavior and misadventures. No lessons are learned - it's not that kind of book. It's about nostalgia, and humor.
The humor, though, must have worked better on its original audience, those who had grown up in that world. I kind of felt like a stranger, not quite getting the jokes, not exactly understanding the references.
Although a lot of the tropes were foreign - the politics of nannies are quite outside my experience - I will say that Christmas with the Savages does one thing very well. It effectively evokes the exasperated stress of a group of children who may not necessarily know or like each other, being shoved together and told to go play.
I think my favorite part was when the children explored the attic and discovered a crawlspace through the rafters. This, I could relate to, since it was something I had always yearned to do as a kid. Alas, my grandparents lived in ranch houses and bungalows and no one had a real attic.
I might have liked it better if the children had been more likable. Evelyn declares that she treats he own nanny "like mud" and doesn't care a bit. The others aren't any better. As it is, they are kind of brats - or, at least, young people who have not yet developed a sense of empathy.
January 15, 2024
A glimpse into high society in 1950's England through the eyes of an eight year old. One of the best children's books I've read and enjoyed. There are chapters where you laugh so hard that you cry. I can't say more, can I?
April 17, 2018
Would have been better with more Christmas. I liked the characters. The story was meh. The writing was good.
December 28, 2019
I didn't love the story much and I don't know why? Maybe I was just not able to connect to the story.
July 6, 2020
Hearkens one back to their own childhood, on vacation with babysitters.
December 18, 2021
Contraceptively fun story guaranteed to make broody persons think twice.
November 25, 2022
I wanted this to be more charming than it I actually was. I didn’t find it all that “effortlessly funny” as the book jacket claimed.
December 4, 2022
Old-fashioned and inoffensive, “Christmas with the Savages” would be fine holiday reading if 1) the protagonist wasn’t a drip and 2) anything at all interesting happened during the story.
December 24, 2022
A delight of a book.
Read
March 10, 2023Dnf
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews