A Thompson Hall Christmas

"A Christmas at Thompson Hall" is a charming Christmas novella written by Anthony Trollope, originally published in 1876. Known for his witty and insightful stories, Trollope’s work often explores social conventions and the relationships between people in Victorian society, and this novella is no exception.

Set during the Christmas season, A Christmas at Thompson Hall tells the story of Mrs. Mary Brown, an Englishwoman who is traveling from the south of France to Thompson Hall in England with her husband, Mr. Brown, for the holidays. They plan to join their extended family at the ancestral home, but a series of humorous and increasingly ridiculous mishaps complicate their journey. Mr. Brown, suffering from a severe sore throat, becomes the source of much of the chaos that follows, as Mrs. Brown is determined to take charge of their travel plans despite his illness.

The story begins with Mr. and Mrs. Brown staying at a Parisian hotel on Christmas Eve, delayed in their journey home. Mrs. Brown is desperate to return to Thompson Hall, fearing that further delays will cause them to miss Christmas entirely, but her husband insists on resting due to his illness. Determined to help him recover quickly so they can continue their journey, Mrs. Brown sneaks out of their hotel room in the middle of the night to retrieve mustard from the hotel’s kitchen for a mustard plaster, a common Victorian remedy for sore throats.

In her hurried attempt to treat her husband, Mrs. Brown inadvertently enters the wrong hotel room and mistakenly applies the mustard plaster to a sleeping stranger instead of her husband. A wonderful audiobook classic.