What do You think about A Christmas Journey (2003)?
Lady Vispasia, aunt of Charlotte Pitt, in a story from her youth. While at a house party, a cruel remark to a young widow causes her to commit suicide by drowning herself. The group present will never mention this again if the offending speaker, Isabel, takes the dead woman's final letter to her mother. Vispasia agrees to travel with her, as they need to go to Inverness in Northern Scotland in December. When they finally arrive at the lady's home, they learn she has not lived there for a year and a half, and have to travel to the other side of Scotland, this time by boat and then on horseback. After another cold journey, they meet the lady and tell her what had happened. Then the three return to London and return to the house where the suicide took place, in time for Christmas Eve dinner.
—Lorraine
I am still scratching my head after reading this one. I read it in an evening. It is a story about a group of “high Society” English people who are spending the holidays at an estate. IT definitely shows the snobby side of the English back in the days when you can hear a lady coming by the sound of her skirts dragging on the floor behind her. Vespasia, a character from one of Perry’s series, is in the midst of a tragedy at the estate when one of the women jumps off a bridge into a pond. Everyone thinks Gwendoline was driven to suicide after Isobel made a comment about her intentions towards this gentlemen she was involved with. The group of people present at the estate decide to do a pilgrimage of expatiation. If Isobel takes the suicide note that was left by gwendoline to her mother and accompanies the mother back to the estate, then all is forgiven and not a word will be spoken about it. So, Isobel is convinced to take the trip especially since Vespasia agrees to go with her. The story is definitely not a Christmas story. It drags out and I was left puzzled at the end. Would not recommend this and hesitate to continue to read books by Perry as a result.
—Kellie
This was a book club selection, chosen because of the Christmas theme for our December meeting. The story took place during the Christmas season, but it really didn't have much to do with Christmas. The book read more like a short story than a novel to me. There were parts where another author might go into much more detail, but in this case, less detail did not hamper the story. I also understood this to be a suspense novel, but I didn't find it very suspenseful. All that aside, it was a nice little book.The main character is Lady Vespasia, which I learned is a character mentioned in other Anne Perry books. The story takes place in England, I can't remember if it was the turn of the century (1900), but sometime way back then, and the setting is an elegant party where one guest insults another guest and there is a death, sort of a who-dun-it situation. The guests decide one particular lady is mostly to blame, and they come up with the idea that if she will go tell the deceased's mother about it, they will all keep the circumstances a secret. Lady Vespasia decided to accompany the "criminal", and they set out on the Christmas Journey. Really this story is more about friendship than anything, and that aspect of the novel was expertly woven into the book by Perry.
—Karen
