Genre Fiction
![Anne Perry - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APAS2A.jpg)
A Christmas Legacy: A Novel (Christmas, 19)
Thomas and Charlotte Pitt's former maid takes a new job as Christmas approaches-but not everyone in the household may survive the holidays in this tension-filled novel from bestselling author Anne Perry.
"Perry's Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat."-The Wall Street Journal
After leaving her position with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt to get married, Gracie thought her days as a maid were behind her. But when her good friend's daughter, Millie, turns up on her doorstep just before the holidays, frantic because things are going missing from the kitchen in the household she serves, Gracie knows she has to find out what is happening. Millie, whose mother died years before, can't risk being accused of theft and getting thrown out on the street, with no character references for a new position.
So Gracie takes on Millie's job herself, claiming Millie is sick and needs a few days to recuperate. At first, it seems that all is normal in the household, even if the couple's elderly granny keeps entirely to her bedroom upstairs. But Gracie begins to realize that Granny is suffering from neglect-and rather than helping her, the husband and wife have decided she isn't dying fast enough.
"Perry's Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat."-The Wall Street Journal
After leaving her position with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt to get married, Gracie thought her days as a maid were behind her. But when her good friend's daughter, Millie, turns up on her doorstep just before the holidays, frantic because things are going missing from the kitchen in the household she serves, Gracie knows she has to find out what is happening. Millie, whose mother died years before, can't risk being accused of theft and getting thrown out on the street, with no character references for a new position.
So Gracie takes on Millie's job herself, claiming Millie is sick and needs a few days to recuperate. At first, it seems that all is normal in the household, even if the couple's elderly granny keeps entirely to her bedroom upstairs. But Gracie begins to realize that Granny is suffering from neglect-and rather than helping her, the husband and wife have decided she isn't dying fast enough.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for the Christmas novels of Anne Perry
A Christmas Resolution
"Once again, Anne Perry has combined the classic elements of a mystery with the ageless sentiments of the yuletide season. A Christmas Resolution is another must-read for the holidays."-Bookreporter
A Christmas Gathering
"A short historical mystery from the absorbing Perry is an annual holiday tradition. Here, espionage mingles discreetly with classic British country-house huggermugger. . . . Rest assured that Christmas will nonetheless be a holiday of good cheer."-The Seattle Times
A Christmas Revelation
"Perry slips in some good Dickensian details-and even a little Peaky Blinders–style grit-with her velvet-trimmed holiday spirit."-Entertainment Weekly
A Christmas Return
"Exceptional . . . Perry unobtrusively incorporates insights about the true meaning of the season into the engrossing plot."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Christmas Message
"[Perry's] characters have that larger-than-life quality that permeated so many classic films from the golden age of cinema."-BookPage
A Christmas Escape
"Rivals the classic murder mysteries of Dame Agatha Christie . . . The suspense is built up so well."-Bookreporter
A Christmas Resolution
"Once again, Anne Perry has combined the classic elements of a mystery with the ageless sentiments of the yuletide season. A Christmas Resolution is another must-read for the holidays."-Bookreporter
A Christmas Gathering
"A short historical mystery from the absorbing Perry is an annual holiday tradition. Here, espionage mingles discreetly with classic British country-house huggermugger. . . . Rest assured that Christmas will nonetheless be a holiday of good cheer."-The Seattle Times
A Christmas Revelation
"Perry slips in some good Dickensian details-and even a little Peaky Blinders–style grit-with her velvet-trimmed holiday spirit."-Entertainment Weekly
A Christmas Return
"Exceptional . . . Perry unobtrusively incorporates insights about the true meaning of the season into the engrossing plot."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Christmas Message
"[Perry's] characters have that larger-than-life quality that permeated so many classic films from the golden age of cinema."-BookPage
A Christmas Escape
"Rivals the classic murder mysteries of Dame Agatha Christie . . . The suspense is built up so well."-Bookreporter
Readers Top Reviews
Connie Fischer
Gracie is a former maid and is now married to Samuel, a policeman. They have 3 young children who keep Gracie very busy. Millie Foster comes to see Gracie saying that she is afraid at her current job. She is a maid at Harcourt House. Food is going missing and she doesn’t know what to do. She is afraid that she is going to be blamed. Gracie agrees to take over her job for a few days before Christmas saying that Millie has a cold and will return soon when she is well. Gracie fits right in with the other members of the staff caring for the home. She learns that Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt are not nice people and overhears them saying they are running short of money. When Gracie learns that Mr. Harcourt’s elderly mother is being kept in a room on the top floor and not being well cared for, she is determined to investigate the matter. She finds the frail woman has not been bathed and her bedding is poor. Gracie steps in and gets the woman cleaned up and fresh bedding for her. The woman is very grateful to her. How could these people be so uncaring of this lovely lady? This is the first book I have read by this author so I am unfamiliar with Gracie’s detective skills. However, that wasn’t necessary to me to be able to enjoy this book. I found the characters to all be well created and the plot well written. I certainly look forward to reading more books by Anne Perry. I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
Anne R. Marshall
A Christmas Legacy by Anne Perry is a warm story about a group of servants, risking being put out at any moment, care for a dying woman, much to the dismay of her family. Millie, an acquaintance of Gracie and her husband, Samuel, has come to ask for help. Gracie used to be in service in the home of Sir Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte. Millie is in service to the Harcourts of Eaton Square. Millie is frightened, but she can't say of what, and food is missing. Gracie determines that the easiest way to figure it out is to take Millie's place in the home for several days. She feels the undercurrent of fear herself. Then she spies young Bessie with a plate, sneaking around the stairs to the most upper level of the house. Bessie won't come clean. Gracie gets stuck in a closet by accident and overhears a conversation between the master and the mistress about money, or the lack of it. As Gracie discovers the truth about what is happening in the house, she takes it into her own hands, as she doesn't need to be worried about being dismissed. Perry's Christmas novellas are always about people who do the right thing; who carry Christmas in their hearts all year long. This is such a story. A whole houseful of people is doing the right thing, despite the fact it may cost them their home, their livelihoods, even their lives. It is perfect for Christmas as only Anne Parry can write it. I was invited to read a free e-ARC of A Christmas Legacy by Ballantine Books, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #ballantinebooks #anneperry #achristmaslegacy
Jane
This is a heartwarming Christmas Historical Fiction story set in Victorian England. Gracie, Thomas and Charlotte Pitt's former maid, left service years ago to get married and care for her family. When her good friend's daughter Millie shows up on her doorstep frightened and asking for help, she can't refuse. Something is wrong in the household Millie now serves and when things go missing from the kitchen, she can't risk being accused of theft and thrown into the streets without a reference. Gracie decides to tell the household that Millie is sick and that she is taking her place for a few days before Christmas, which will allow her to snoop around to find out what's going on. When Gracie gets to the household, she finds a nice group of servants who clearly care for Millie, but something is definitely wrong and no one is talking. Gracie eventually finds the man of the house's mother in an upstairs bedroom clearly being neglected, but other than showing her some kindness, Gracie is at a loss as to what else she can do for her. This is a warm and fuzzy Christmas story that is a quick and easy read. I really like Gracie. She's smart, capable and compassionate. The author does a good job of sketching out the personality of the other servants, although most are a pretty stereotypical. The masters of the house are also your typical awful rich people, but these little nit picky things don't diminish my enjoyment of the book. I really like this author's writing and was pleased to read this heartwarming Christmas story. I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Ballantine Books. All opinions are my own.
Short Excerpt Teaser
"How old are you?" Gracie asked sternly.
"I'm very almost six," Charlie replied, taking her finger away from the mixing bowl in which Gracie was stirring the Christmas cake for the final time, and looking at her mother with a combination of awe and pleading.
Gracie regarded her daughter with as much severity as she could manage, which was not a lot. "So you know to wait until I'm finished and have put this batter into the cake tin. Then you can have the rest."
"But you don't leave anything," Charlie said reasonably.
"I leave enough," her mother replied, and started to spoon the mixture into the baking tin. It was rich with raisins, sultanas, candied orange peel, and everything else delicious, even tiny threepenny bits, wrapped in pieces of cloth, so nobody would accidentally swallow them.
"How long is it till Christmas?" Charlie asked again.
"A week and two days," Gracie replied.
"Why does everybody have a party for some little boy?" Charlie asked. "We aren't going to have another little boy, are we? We've got enough." She had two younger brothers, aged four and three. She was quite sure they did not need any more.
"This one was special," Gracie explained.
"You said ours were special, too," Charlie reminded her.
"Special to us. The one at Christmas is special to everybody." Gracie moved the spoon round the bowl for a last time and regarded it carefully.
"That's enough!" Charlie said quickly. "You can't take it all!"
Gracie handed her the bowl and the spoon. "Can you manage that?"
" 'Course I can!" Charlie answered without hesitation. She took the spoon and began licking off the very last scraps of cake mixture.
Before she had finished, there was a knock on the kitchen door at the back of the house. The door opened to the scullery and outside to the yard where the rubbish bins and the coal scuttles were, and where deliveries were made.
Gracie went to answer it. Her daughter followed close behind.
On the step was a girl of perhaps fourteen. She was dressed in a warm coat and wearing a hat, but she looked miserable, even frightened.
"Mrs. Tellman?" she asked. "Gracie Tellman?" She was ready to run away, if Gracie denied it.
"Yes, that's me," Gracie answered. "Come in. You look half-perished with cold."
She stepped back and opened the door wider so the girl could come inside. Gracie could see that she worked in service. Before she was married, Gracie had been in service herself. But unlike so many girls, she had the good fortune to be in service to only one family, the Pitts. She had been thirteen when she started, and well over twenty when she left to marry Samuel Tellman. He had been a junior policeman then. Now he was an inspector at the Bow Street station, one of the most famous in London.
The girl came in and stood shivering in the kitchen. She was not much more than five feet tall, standing eye to eye with Gracie.
Gracie pointed to the kitchen chair nearest the stove, and the girl sat down. Without asking, Gracie filled the kettle and put it on the hob.
"I don't know if you remember me," the girl began tentatively. "My name is Millie Foster."
Memory flooded Gracie's mind. A case Samuel had first told her about late one evening, sharing his day with her when the children had gone to bed. That was her favorite time, when all the work was done, the doors closed. Samuel would tell her about not just the job, but also the things that had moved him, funny or sad or difficult. At the mention of Millie's name, Gracie remembered Jenny Foster and her daughter, Millie, who had been about Charlie's age then, and wrongly accused of household theft. Jenny had been charged with being unfit to look after her only child. It was Tellman, with a lot of help from Gracie, who had proved her innocence and reunited them. They had remained friends until Jenny's early death, five or six years after that.
"Yes, of course," Gracie said warmly, and then without any warning her eyes filled with tears, the memory sharp and touched with guilt. There was nothing she could have done to save Jenny, who'd had a sudden and devastating illness. But Millie had been taken in by an aunt, and Gracie had lost touch with her.
Now she looked at the distress in the girl's face and did not waste time in regretting the past. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Millie shook her head. "It's not theft like before. We don't know what it is. Leastways, I don't. And I don't think anybody else at the house does." She paused for a moment, as if not certain how to explain. "A lot of food goes missing, the nicest things, like cakes and pudding and cream. And pieces of chicken, stuff like that . . . but no one says anything about it....
"I'm very almost six," Charlie replied, taking her finger away from the mixing bowl in which Gracie was stirring the Christmas cake for the final time, and looking at her mother with a combination of awe and pleading.
Gracie regarded her daughter with as much severity as she could manage, which was not a lot. "So you know to wait until I'm finished and have put this batter into the cake tin. Then you can have the rest."
"But you don't leave anything," Charlie said reasonably.
"I leave enough," her mother replied, and started to spoon the mixture into the baking tin. It was rich with raisins, sultanas, candied orange peel, and everything else delicious, even tiny threepenny bits, wrapped in pieces of cloth, so nobody would accidentally swallow them.
"How long is it till Christmas?" Charlie asked again.
"A week and two days," Gracie replied.
"Why does everybody have a party for some little boy?" Charlie asked. "We aren't going to have another little boy, are we? We've got enough." She had two younger brothers, aged four and three. She was quite sure they did not need any more.
"This one was special," Gracie explained.
"You said ours were special, too," Charlie reminded her.
"Special to us. The one at Christmas is special to everybody." Gracie moved the spoon round the bowl for a last time and regarded it carefully.
"That's enough!" Charlie said quickly. "You can't take it all!"
Gracie handed her the bowl and the spoon. "Can you manage that?"
" 'Course I can!" Charlie answered without hesitation. She took the spoon and began licking off the very last scraps of cake mixture.
Before she had finished, there was a knock on the kitchen door at the back of the house. The door opened to the scullery and outside to the yard where the rubbish bins and the coal scuttles were, and where deliveries were made.
Gracie went to answer it. Her daughter followed close behind.
On the step was a girl of perhaps fourteen. She was dressed in a warm coat and wearing a hat, but she looked miserable, even frightened.
"Mrs. Tellman?" she asked. "Gracie Tellman?" She was ready to run away, if Gracie denied it.
"Yes, that's me," Gracie answered. "Come in. You look half-perished with cold."
She stepped back and opened the door wider so the girl could come inside. Gracie could see that she worked in service. Before she was married, Gracie had been in service herself. But unlike so many girls, she had the good fortune to be in service to only one family, the Pitts. She had been thirteen when she started, and well over twenty when she left to marry Samuel Tellman. He had been a junior policeman then. Now he was an inspector at the Bow Street station, one of the most famous in London.
The girl came in and stood shivering in the kitchen. She was not much more than five feet tall, standing eye to eye with Gracie.
Gracie pointed to the kitchen chair nearest the stove, and the girl sat down. Without asking, Gracie filled the kettle and put it on the hob.
"I don't know if you remember me," the girl began tentatively. "My name is Millie Foster."
Memory flooded Gracie's mind. A case Samuel had first told her about late one evening, sharing his day with her when the children had gone to bed. That was her favorite time, when all the work was done, the doors closed. Samuel would tell her about not just the job, but also the things that had moved him, funny or sad or difficult. At the mention of Millie's name, Gracie remembered Jenny Foster and her daughter, Millie, who had been about Charlie's age then, and wrongly accused of household theft. Jenny had been charged with being unfit to look after her only child. It was Tellman, with a lot of help from Gracie, who had proved her innocence and reunited them. They had remained friends until Jenny's early death, five or six years after that.
"Yes, of course," Gracie said warmly, and then without any warning her eyes filled with tears, the memory sharp and touched with guilt. There was nothing she could have done to save Jenny, who'd had a sudden and devastating illness. But Millie had been taken in by an aunt, and Gracie had lost touch with her.
Now she looked at the distress in the girl's face and did not waste time in regretting the past. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Millie shook her head. "It's not theft like before. We don't know what it is. Leastways, I don't. And I don't think anybody else at the house does." She paused for a moment, as if not certain how to explain. "A lot of food goes missing, the nicest things, like cakes and pudding and cream. And pieces of chicken, stuff like that . . . but no one says anything about it....
