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Fairacre #10
The Christmas Mouse
Christmas Mouse
173 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
18 people are currently reading
441 people want to read
About the author
Miss Read
159 books516 followersDora Jessie Saint MBE née Shafe (born 17 April 1913), best known by the pen name Miss Read, was an English novelist, by profession a schoolmistress. Her pseudonym was derived from her mother's maiden name. In 1940 she married her husband, Douglas, a former headmaster. The couple had a daughter, Jill. She began writing for several journals after World War II and worked as a scriptwriter for the BBC.
She wrote a series of novels from 1955 to 1996. Her work centred on two fictional English villages, Fairacre and Thrush Green. The principal character in the Fairacre books, "Miss Read", is an unmarried schoolteacher in a small village school, an acerbic and yet compassionate observer of village life. Miss Read's novels are wry regional social comedies, laced with gentle humour and subtle social commentary. Miss Read is also a keen observer of nature and the changing seasons.
Her most direct influence is from Jane Austen, although her work also bears similarities to the social comedies of manners written in the 1920s and 1930s, and in particular the work of Barbara Pym. Miss Read's work has influenced a number of writers in her own turn, including the American writer Jan Karon. The musician Enya has a track on her Watermark album named after the book Miss Clare Remembers, and one on her Shepherd Moons album named after No Holly for Miss Quinn.
In 1996 she retired. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She died 7 April, 2012 in Shefford Woodlands.
She wrote a series of novels from 1955 to 1996. Her work centred on two fictional English villages, Fairacre and Thrush Green. The principal character in the Fairacre books, "Miss Read", is an unmarried schoolteacher in a small village school, an acerbic and yet compassionate observer of village life. Miss Read's novels are wry regional social comedies, laced with gentle humour and subtle social commentary. Miss Read is also a keen observer of nature and the changing seasons.
Her most direct influence is from Jane Austen, although her work also bears similarities to the social comedies of manners written in the 1920s and 1930s, and in particular the work of Barbara Pym. Miss Read's work has influenced a number of writers in her own turn, including the American writer Jan Karon. The musician Enya has a track on her Watermark album named after the book Miss Clare Remembers, and one on her Shepherd Moons album named after No Holly for Miss Quinn.
In 1996 she retired. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She died 7 April, 2012 in Shefford Woodlands.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
December 24, 2011
I love this book and read it every year at Christmas time (along with my other Christmas books in English and German). A dear story very similar in tone to the Number One Ladies Detective Agency books, although with a very different setting and no mystery: rural England in the 1960s. This little tale concerns a widow, Mrs Berry, who lives with her also-widowed young daughter and two little girls. Their preparations on Christmas Eve for a simple old-fashioned English Christmas, despite their lack of money, are a trip back to a much simpler time. Mrs Berry is frightened by a mouse in her bedroom, but is later startled by another interloper, this time a mouse-like runaway boy. Full of gentle wisdom, Mrs Berry, like Precious Ramotswe, does the right thing and persuades others to do the same.
I'm sorry this book is probably not available in the US; I bought my copy when I was living in London in the 1970s, when books by "Miss Read" were set not all that far in the past. She has a series of books based in English country villages, very observant of the life and times of the people; the main character is a retired (or not, depending on the time of the book) single elementary teacher.
I'm sorry this book is probably not available in the US; I bought my copy when I was living in London in the 1970s, when books by "Miss Read" were set not all that far in the past. She has a series of books based in English country villages, very observant of the life and times of the people; the main character is a retired (or not, depending on the time of the book) single elementary teacher.
December 27, 2017
Perfect Christmas read!
January 9, 2014
31/2 stars. In the hectic days before Christmas, I wanted an good, relaxing story...antagonists and challenges okay, but spare me the gruesome, disgusting, or vulgar. I found what I wanted in The Christmas Mouse, one of a series of books written by "Miss Read" in the 60s and 70s. Set in an English village, it's a gratifying story about people who face small and big problems with forthrightness and who truly care about one another. Put a log on the fire, pour yourself a cup of tea, and enjoy!
March 13, 2022
I am enjoying reading my way through the Fairacre books this year. The Christmas Mouse is a short, heartwarming story of an old widow woman, her daughter, and two granddaughters. One Christmas, the widow, Mrs. Berry, is visited by not one, but two Christmas mice. The story is rather short, but a sweet tale of Christmas past. While it is part of the Fairacre series, there is no mention of the characters we know from the series and could easily be read as a standalone.
June 28, 2019
This is book 10 of the Fairacre series even though it doesn’t take place in Fairacre and the only familiar Fairacre face is the Reverend Mr. Partridge. Nonetheless, it is a charming, heartwarming story about love - loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. This will be added to my regular Christmas TBR.
December 24, 2022
"It was raining hard on Christmas Eve in Caxley and the outlying villages. Mary, old Mrs. Berry's daughter, and her two little girls had just returned from some last-minute shopping. Mrs. Berry and Mary were both widows, but they lived in cheerful routine in their pretty cottage, third along the road that led to Springbourne from the remote village of Shepherd's Cross. The cottage was noted for its hospitality.
"The Christmas tree had been decorated by little Jane and Frances the night before; holly and mistletoe adorned the parlor. In the kitchen the turkey was stuffed and the Christmas pudding made. The children's presents were hidden, ready for stocking and tree. When the girls were at last in bed and the final preparations completed, old Mrs. Berry went upstairs.
"To her horror, a mouse was in the bedroom. There was nothing for it, she said shuddering, but to sleep downstairs by the fire.
"But the mouse was not the only intruder that night. A bedraggled runaway boy, taking refuge from the storm, also entered Mrs. Berry's cottage.
"How she dealt with him, and the smaller intruder upstairs, is told in this latest novel by Miss Read. Miss Read has been promising her fans a new Christmas story since 1966, when she published Village Christmas. Here it is, for every age, as warm as the glowing coals of the cottage fire and the spirit of Christmas itself."
~~front & back flaps
As charming as all the Miss Read books are, drawing the reader into a bygone English age, when life was simpler and much more rural than it is today. To read one of the Thrush Green or Fairacre books is like sitting in front of a cozy fire and traveling to a time when morals were stricter but observed by almost everyone, and life was generally simpler and homier.
It's the same with The Christmas Mouse. The presents for the children are either hand made or bought in the small village with hard earned pennies. The children were delighted with these gifts, and no afraid of the mouse either. The only jarring note was the lengthy sermon Mrs. Berry delivered to poor little Stephen, which of course was a normal thing for the time, and which little Stephen benefited from immensely. Such preaching wouldn't go well with today's children -- my! how times have changed!
But a thoroughly enjoyable novel just the same, especially since read just a few days before Christmas.
"The Christmas tree had been decorated by little Jane and Frances the night before; holly and mistletoe adorned the parlor. In the kitchen the turkey was stuffed and the Christmas pudding made. The children's presents were hidden, ready for stocking and tree. When the girls were at last in bed and the final preparations completed, old Mrs. Berry went upstairs.
"To her horror, a mouse was in the bedroom. There was nothing for it, she said shuddering, but to sleep downstairs by the fire.
"But the mouse was not the only intruder that night. A bedraggled runaway boy, taking refuge from the storm, also entered Mrs. Berry's cottage.
"How she dealt with him, and the smaller intruder upstairs, is told in this latest novel by Miss Read. Miss Read has been promising her fans a new Christmas story since 1966, when she published Village Christmas. Here it is, for every age, as warm as the glowing coals of the cottage fire and the spirit of Christmas itself."
~~front & back flaps
As charming as all the Miss Read books are, drawing the reader into a bygone English age, when life was simpler and much more rural than it is today. To read one of the Thrush Green or Fairacre books is like sitting in front of a cozy fire and traveling to a time when morals were stricter but observed by almost everyone, and life was generally simpler and homier.
It's the same with The Christmas Mouse. The presents for the children are either hand made or bought in the small village with hard earned pennies. The children were delighted with these gifts, and no afraid of the mouse either. The only jarring note was the lengthy sermon Mrs. Berry delivered to poor little Stephen, which of course was a normal thing for the time, and which little Stephen benefited from immensely. Such preaching wouldn't go well with today's children -- my! how times have changed!
But a thoroughly enjoyable novel just the same, especially since read just a few days before Christmas.
February 4, 2016
The Christmas Mouse by Miss Read is a delightful Christmas story set over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the early 1970's. It evokes childhood memories for me when Christmases were simpler affairs and children were happy to receive such things as dolls, slippers, handkerchiefs and oranges as presents.
Mrs Berry, a widow shares her home with her daughter Mary, also a widow and her two granddaughters aged five and seven years old. The story tells of their preparations for Christmas. Mrs Berry also reminisces of times past.
It was a wonderful little heart warming story. As a child of the 1960's, I too was reminded of Christmases past. A timeless tale that can be enjoyed by generations to come.
Mrs Berry, a widow shares her home with her daughter Mary, also a widow and her two granddaughters aged five and seven years old. The story tells of their preparations for Christmas. Mrs Berry also reminisces of times past.
It was a wonderful little heart warming story. As a child of the 1960's, I too was reminded of Christmases past. A timeless tale that can be enjoyed by generations to come.
January 19, 2017
A Charming Little Book. Lovely Ending. Would've Liked It To Have Been Longer
December 26, 2019
”No, it’s time you thought of other people instead of yourself. Time you counted your blessings, instead of making yourself miserable about things you covet. No selfish person is ever happy. Remember that.”
There is always a strong dollop of good old-fashioned sense in a Miss Read novel. Her promotion and encouragement of the traditional British values (economy, modesty, self-control, charity) is mixed, gently, astringently and often humorously, with an acute understanding of human nature. One thing I particularly admire about her writing is her ability to write not just accurately, but sympathetically and respectfully, about the various ‘classes’ of English people. In this book, a novella in the Fairacre series, she focuses on the female household of Mrs. Berry, her widowed daughter Mary, and Mary’s two young daughters. The entire book takes place in the two day period of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with the dramatic arc taking place in the wee hours of the night between.
Mrs. Berry, formerly ‘in service’, is a happy, positive soul who suffers from the occasional pang of sadness for the deaths of the family’s men. Courageous and resourceful in nearly every way, she does have one weakness: an unreasonable fear of mice. It’s a wonderfully compact story, a lovely period piece, and a heartwarming bit of Christmas cheer: all contained within 100 pages.
Thanks so much to Arpita @bagfullofbooks for the gift of this book. Christmas 2019.
January 26, 2022
3-
A few pages in I thought this was going to be a small book I’d end up really enjoying, it’s scraping in with an ‘okay read’ as there were a few too many things I didn’t like about the book – maybe I’m just in a cranky anti-Covid stuff mood though – quite a few ideas felt too dated for me to want to make allowances for them, and Miss Read seemed to have injected a preachy tone into this story.
I think I’ll tuck this away in a re-read pile, for another time. Perhaps.
A few pages in I thought this was going to be a small book I’d end up really enjoying, it’s scraping in with an ‘okay read’ as there were a few too many things I didn’t like about the book – maybe I’m just in a cranky anti-Covid stuff mood though – quite a few ideas felt too dated for me to want to make allowances for them, and Miss Read seemed to have injected a preachy tone into this story.
I think I’ll tuck this away in a re-read pile, for another time. Perhaps.
April 4, 2020
4.5 stars
December 21, 2024
Windowed Mrs. Berry lives in and English cottage with her widowed daughter and her two young girls. On Christmas Eve, they have two visitors, a Christmas mouse and young Steven Amonetti. Mrs. Bert is down stairs due to the mouse in her room, and catches Steven red handed trying to steal some sweets. Throughout then even she imparts wisdom and appreciation in him, They both have a nice they won’t soon forget.
December 16, 2024
It's been five years since I've read a novel by Miss Read, and I'd forgotten how perfectly charming they are.
Mrs. Berry and her grown daughter, Mary, live together. They are both widows and are raising Mary's two young daughters together. Money is tight, but they are doing their best to make ends meet and to give each other a wonderful Christmas.
A delightful Christmas story.
Mrs. Berry and her grown daughter, Mary, live together. They are both widows and are raising Mary's two young daughters together. Money is tight, but they are doing their best to make ends meet and to give each other a wonderful Christmas.
A delightful Christmas story.
September 5, 2017
Another Fairacre book, this one settled on the events in one house. There's a grandmother, a mother and her two young girls living there and it's time for Christmas. The husbands of both women are dead. The young girls are really looking forward to the toys and other things they will get for Christmas.
What wasn't counted on was a mouse showing up in the grandmother's room. She's terrified of them and ends up staying downstairs on Christmas Eve. That accounts for 1 mouse.
The next one is a young boy that she catches who entered the house illegally and is trying to steal food. This accounts for the 2nd mouse. The boy is obviously very hungry and very cold. She informs him she could call the police and have him arrested or he could stay and listen to her telling him why what he did was wrong. There's a long, decent conversation between the two and things work out well for both mice.
A nice story.
What wasn't counted on was a mouse showing up in the grandmother's room. She's terrified of them and ends up staying downstairs on Christmas Eve. That accounts for 1 mouse.
The next one is a young boy that she catches who entered the house illegally and is trying to steal food. This accounts for the 2nd mouse. The boy is obviously very hungry and very cold. She informs him she could call the police and have him arrested or he could stay and listen to her telling him why what he did was wrong. There's a long, decent conversation between the two and things work out well for both mice.
A nice story.
December 24, 2018
What a sweet little Christmas book! A friend brought me this book a few days ago and said it was her favorite Christmas book. It’s delightful. I enjoyed the style of writing, the English village setting and the characters. It made me want to read more of this series.
September 11, 2017
I love Miss Read books. I reread this one every year for memories, nostalgia, innocent Christmas
delights. It's a trip down memory lane for me.
delights. It's a trip down memory lane for me.
November 15, 2025
"The Christmas Mouse" title has both a literal and figurative meaning. As two types of unexpected, uninvited visitors arrive in the Berry household one Christmas Eve -- one visitor a tiny critter with a long tail, the other a young boy up to no good.
I would recommend for adults only, or maybe ages 16 and up. There are several mature insinuations, and a few choice words I was a tad bit dismayed to see in such an otherwise nice, cozy book.
I would recommend for adults only, or maybe ages 16 and up. There are several mature insinuations, and a few choice words I was a tad bit dismayed to see in such an otherwise nice, cozy book.
December 14, 2021
Boy was this dull! I can see why people might enjoy it, but it wasn't for me. The fact that the main driver for the plot is someone finding a mouse in their bedroom gives you an indication of just how tedious this was.
January 11, 2019
3 Stars = I liked the book.
One of the books in my daughter's Christmas collection.
One of the books in my daughter's Christmas collection.
May 1, 2022
Nothing much happens in these books but nonetheless it's cozy and comforting to read
December 19, 2025
This is a sweet little Christmas story about two unplanned visitors in the night—and how compassion played a part in one family’s Christmas Eve. Very tender.
March 16, 2016
This was nice, old story about a mother (Mrs. Berry), her daughter (Mary) and her two grandauhters living in London at Christmas time. The whole story happens in 24 hrs., Christmas eve to Christmas day.
Both Mrs. Berry and Mary were widowers and they didn't have much money so that is why they lived together. It is Christmas Eve and the girls and Mary go out to get some last gifts. The girls get sent to bed and Mary and Mrs. Berry stay up to wrap some gifts. The oldes gets up because she wants to stay awake to see if she can find out the truth about Father Christmas. She comes downstairs and has some milk and gets sent to bed. Then Mrs. Berry goes to get ready for bed and she screams and finds a mouse (which she is terribly afriad of) in her bedroom. Mary sets a trap but the mouse gets away. Mrs Berry decides she is going to sleep downstiars. She wakes to find a young boy in the kitchen trying to eat her cake. He is soaking wet from the rain and she makes him come in by the fire to dry off. She feeds him and they talk. He is the son of an immigrant and a local girl. She knew his father, Pepe. He wasn't allowed to stay with his mother and aunt as they were basically, loose women so he was with the Rose's, a foster family. He explained how he was jealous of the Rose's two actual children and then fell asleep.
Mrs. Berry let him rest and then told him that if he couuld sneak in without being found out that he should get back home and to bed. If the Rose's knew then he should admit the whole thing. The whole time she kept thinking how mouse like he looked. She also told him that he should appricate what the Rose's have done for him and given him. He needed to stop acting as he was.
He left and Mrs. Berry decided that she wanted to sleep in her bed. So she went up, sprung the trap and fell asleep, only to hear a scratching at the window. She decided to just let it out the window, so she opened the latch and let it scurry down.
She slept late the next day and was happy that it was Chrismtas, but she never told her family about the boy. Mary also got a letter from Bertie, a man who used to work with her late husband, inviting her to the New Years concert. She decides to go and it makes her happy.
They take a walk after dinner and they walk to Tupps Hill, where Pepe's son lives with the Rose's. Mrs. Berry said she might go there sometime to visit the Roses. They go home and finish the rest of their Christmas celebration. We find out that Pepe's son acts better toward his foster family and they all feel he is really one of them now. The mouse can sense danger and now doesn't go too far from it's home.
Obviously the mouse and mouse like boy are meant to be similar. They are both "Christmas Mice." I do feel that there is some other comparision and I'm just missing the bigger picture.
Both Mrs. Berry and Mary were widowers and they didn't have much money so that is why they lived together. It is Christmas Eve and the girls and Mary go out to get some last gifts. The girls get sent to bed and Mary and Mrs. Berry stay up to wrap some gifts. The oldes gets up because she wants to stay awake to see if she can find out the truth about Father Christmas. She comes downstairs and has some milk and gets sent to bed. Then Mrs. Berry goes to get ready for bed and she screams and finds a mouse (which she is terribly afriad of) in her bedroom. Mary sets a trap but the mouse gets away. Mrs Berry decides she is going to sleep downstiars. She wakes to find a young boy in the kitchen trying to eat her cake. He is soaking wet from the rain and she makes him come in by the fire to dry off. She feeds him and they talk. He is the son of an immigrant and a local girl. She knew his father, Pepe. He wasn't allowed to stay with his mother and aunt as they were basically, loose women so he was with the Rose's, a foster family. He explained how he was jealous of the Rose's two actual children and then fell asleep.
Mrs. Berry let him rest and then told him that if he couuld sneak in without being found out that he should get back home and to bed. If the Rose's knew then he should admit the whole thing. The whole time she kept thinking how mouse like he looked. She also told him that he should appricate what the Rose's have done for him and given him. He needed to stop acting as he was.
He left and Mrs. Berry decided that she wanted to sleep in her bed. So she went up, sprung the trap and fell asleep, only to hear a scratching at the window. She decided to just let it out the window, so she opened the latch and let it scurry down.
She slept late the next day and was happy that it was Chrismtas, but she never told her family about the boy. Mary also got a letter from Bertie, a man who used to work with her late husband, inviting her to the New Years concert. She decides to go and it makes her happy.
They take a walk after dinner and they walk to Tupps Hill, where Pepe's son lives with the Rose's. Mrs. Berry said she might go there sometime to visit the Roses. They go home and finish the rest of their Christmas celebration. We find out that Pepe's son acts better toward his foster family and they all feel he is really one of them now. The mouse can sense danger and now doesn't go too far from it's home.
Obviously the mouse and mouse like boy are meant to be similar. They are both "Christmas Mice." I do feel that there is some other comparision and I'm just missing the bigger picture.
December 25, 2023
This is one of the books I reread each year. Short, simple and sweet, it tells of widowed Mrs Berry's Christmas with her daughter, also widowed, and her two granddaughters. Set in the early 1970s, it harks back to a simpler time, when a tin of shortbread or a potted cyclamen was a luxurious present and where Christmas trees were small enough to stand on tables! Definitely a nostalgia-fest!
When rodent-phobic Mrs Berry finds a mouse in her bedroom, she decides to spend Christmas Eve night sleeping downstairs to avoid it. Her night is disturbed in more ways than one, and Miss Read weaves together Mrs Berry's reminiscences of her past with current troubles being experienced by members of her household and the local community. By Christmas morning, all is happily resolved.
A gentle, heartwarming tale, ideal for reading at Christmas. The plot is fairly lightweight, but I love reading it for the Christmassy atmosphere. Some reviewers have commented unfavourable on Mrs Berry's moralising attitude, but her character was born around 1910, and the 'present day' of the book is 1973. I feel her personality is very in keeping for someone of her generation - she reminded me very much of my own grandmother. Although it is officially a Fairacre novel, it is really more of a standalone - Rev Partridge, Mrs Burton and the Misses Waters are mentioned by name, but do not play any real role in the book, and none of the other Fairacre characters appear.
When rodent-phobic Mrs Berry finds a mouse in her bedroom, she decides to spend Christmas Eve night sleeping downstairs to avoid it. Her night is disturbed in more ways than one, and Miss Read weaves together Mrs Berry's reminiscences of her past with current troubles being experienced by members of her household and the local community. By Christmas morning, all is happily resolved.
A gentle, heartwarming tale, ideal for reading at Christmas. The plot is fairly lightweight, but I love reading it for the Christmassy atmosphere. Some reviewers have commented unfavourable on Mrs Berry's moralising attitude, but her character was born around 1910, and the 'present day' of the book is 1973. I feel her personality is very in keeping for someone of her generation - she reminded me very much of my own grandmother. Although it is officially a Fairacre novel, it is really more of a standalone - Rev Partridge, Mrs Burton and the Misses Waters are mentioned by name, but do not play any real role in the book, and none of the other Fairacre characters appear.
December 12, 2022
One of my last Festive themed stories I had stockpiled for this Christmas.
It is a delightfully nostalgic story of Christmases of Yore, when gifts were small but heartfelt. Here "excess" amounts to a extra fruit laden cake in the tin and a new watch is the height of desire in a tiny boy's heart.
This is quite a dense story for such a short story, it is about loss of many different kinds and redemption and hope. The little mouse of the title was used both literally and figuratively to real effect.
My First Miss Read Book, but if I ever need a return to a simpler time, I think I may choose her stories again!
It is a delightfully nostalgic story of Christmases of Yore, when gifts were small but heartfelt. Here "excess" amounts to a extra fruit laden cake in the tin and a new watch is the height of desire in a tiny boy's heart.
This is quite a dense story for such a short story, it is about loss of many different kinds and redemption and hope. The little mouse of the title was used both literally and figuratively to real effect.
My First Miss Read Book, but if I ever need a return to a simpler time, I think I may choose her stories again!
March 30, 2010
Mrs. Berry is my new hero. Grimly determined to do the right thing, she surprises even herself with her own bravery in the end. Another charming English village tale from the able pen of Miss Read. Going back to my normal dystopian sci fi after this series is going to be jarring.
September 17, 2013
This light and cozy read is just delightful. Not a lot gets done in this book, the tale of a widow and her daughter (also widowed) preparing for Christmas. That's alright though - her brief interaction with a boy will make you ponder kindness, child rearing, and loneliness.
October 24, 2022
I love this very sweet story of Mrs. Berry with her daughter Mary and two granddaughters, Jane and Frances. Miss Read is so descriptive about Christmas in England during this time period that it makes one feel one is there.
February 7, 2015
A short sweet and heartwarming story, of a widowed mother, her widowed daughter and her two granddaughters living together in a small village. The surprise visit by the "Christmas mouse" is cute!
December 20, 2017
Heart warming
A short and sweet Christmas story, enjoyable and light though just a little too sugary for me. Nicely written but not something I would choose again.
A short and sweet Christmas story, enjoyable and light though just a little too sugary for me. Nicely written but not something I would choose again.
November 8, 2018
I just love the Fairacre series by Miss Read! This Christmas story was a warm and wonderful way to begin my holiday reading.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews