The Comfort of a Fixed Star

There is only one month that matters in winter, and for me, that is December. With three young children, Christmas is a magical time, but the focus isn't that one day; it's the ritual of the month.

The month begins with the opening of the advent calendar and our yearly visit from those naughty elves, ending with our fake Christmas at my parents'. Some people say seeing the Coca-Cola advert on television makes it feel like Christmas has begun. For me, it's the day I sit down and crack open the spine of an old favourite.

A Moral Compass and Source of Comfort

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is more than just a seasonal classic; it is my ultimate moral compass and a source of comfort. Its special nature doesn't lie merely in its festive setting or the many traditions it started. I am drawn to its brutal honesty and its definitive answer to the question of whether people can truly change.

Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol while he was facing poverty himself. His father, who inspired the character Mr Macawber in David Copperfield, was once again in debt and needed money. Dickens needed an instant hit over Christmas to help with this financial crisis.

Wrecked by cold and feverish, he completed the novella in a frantic six weeks between October and November in 1843. Many publishers were reluctant to publish it, as his last book had not been as popular as others. Furthermore, they did not agree with his vision for the book's design. Dickens took matters into his own hands and self-published.

He wanted total control over the luxurious binding, coloured title pages, and illustrations, ensuring it was a beautiful gift book. Dickens spared no expense on the first run. Though he sold 6,000 copies in the first week, his initial profits remained small.

He shouldn't have worried. The book was reprinted several times and is now one of the works he is best known for. It also started his own winter ritual: writing a Christmas novella every year.

The Unbeatable Atmosphere

Despite the others, none ever reached the success of his first. The atmosphere in A Christmas Carol is its greatest magic. The contrast between emotional power and atmosphere instantly transports you to another time. Although you are confronted with the less-than-festive Scrooge, somehow, from the first page, you feel Christmas closing in on you like a warm wrap.

The smoky London fog, the warm glow of the Cratchits' meagre dinner, and the carol singers who can’t sing a note as the miserable old man walks past, the imagery reminds us of past Christmases.

Picking up the same copy every year is a powerful trigger. It transports me back to Christmases past, and I see my babies grow throughout the year with every read. I find the smudge on the paper where my eldest touched it with chocolate spread on her fingers. There is the crease in the page where the book fell off the sofa as I fed my youngest.

I have visions of passing this battered copy onto my middle child, my mini-me and bookworm.

Scrooge travels through past, present, and future, and so do I.

A Collector's Obsession

This book has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. This connection to history is likely what sparked my obsession with collecting copies of it. Although I am not lucky enough to have a first edition, these have cost as much as £215,000, I do have some slightly rarer copies in my collection.

It isn't the value that attracts me, though. It's the illustrations, the different interpretations, and the aesthetics that have evolved the book. Despite all this, my favourite copy will always be a very beat-up Penguin classic paperback that I grab every year as my winter ritual.

In a world that constantly changes, A Christmas Carol remains a comforting, fixed star for me. It is a perfect, concise engine of redemption that challenges us every year to be better, kinder, and warmer versions of ourselves. I can’t wait to start Christmas with it this year.