A Blackpool Christmas: A heart-warming and nostalgic festive family saga - the perfect winter read!

Written by Maggie Mason

Narrated by Anne Dover

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THE FINAL BOOK IN A NEW TRILOGY BY
Bestselling author Mary Wood writing as Maggie Mason

'In the grand tradition of sagas set down by the late and great Catherine Cookson'
Jean Fullerton on Blackpool Lass
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The war is over, but peace hasn't quite settled between newly reunited sisters Babs and Beth. Tilly and her daughters have encountered enough pain to last several lifetimes, but their struggles are far from over. Will they be able to put their pas behind them and look forward to a happy future?

The perfect read for fans of Mary Wood, Kitty Neale, Val Wood and Nadine Dorries

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Release date: Nov 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781405543231

Maggie Mason

Maggie Mason also writes saga as Mary Wood. Mary was born the thirteenth child of fifteen and throughout her life had various factory, office and home-based jobs, finally becoming a probation service officer before she retired. Mary married in 1963 and with her husband Roy has four children, eight grandchildren, and five step-grandchildren. She got her first book deal in 2013 and has not looked back since.

Reviews for A Blackpool Christmas

[nicx27 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Maggie Mason book is always a true pleasure to read, but A Blackpool Christmas is a bit special as it is the third in the Sandgronians trilogy and winds up the stories of Tilly and her twins, Babs and Beth.

As expected from this amazing writer, Mason gives her characters many trials and tribulations to deal with. Tilly isn't exempt but in this book the twins' stories take centre stage as we follow Beth as she struggles to deal with her loyalty to Jasmine and Roman, the gypsy couple who stole her and her sister as small children, and Babs who thinks she can get on with her life after a tragedy but fate (or the author!) has more heartbreak for her to endure.

What is always so prominent in Mason's books is the sense of family love and friendships. The relationships in the story really make me want to jump in and sit around the fire with the characters. Even though nobody is free from their own misfortunes, there's such a strong feeling of pulling together, helping each other out, and genuine comradeship.

It's really lovely to read about Blackpool in the past and what was particularly interesting in this instalment was reading about people going through the flu pandemic of 1918. The wearing of masks, constant washing of hands and taking such care to try and avoid passing the virus on provided obvious parallels with the current pandemic.

This is not a Christmas book as such but some of the most important scenes take place at that time and I really enjoyed the descriptions of Christmas at Tilly and Tommy's farmhouse. I had to wipe a tear away at the end and I'm so sad that I won't be meeting all the lovely characters again. A Blackpool Christmas is a wonderful, moving and ultimately uplifting story and I loved it.