After enjoying The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and the sequel The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey, it was with interest that I picked up the Winter Garden by Rachel Joyce. Unlike her other two novels, this is a compilation of short-stories with a Christmas theme. Each story has a slight connection between characters.

I have to admit, that I was not enthralled by this book. The stories were dry and had limited Christmas appeal.  I kept waiting for a bigger connection at the end.  Barring a linkage, I was waiting for something exciting to happen and was disappointed.  Each story was unfinished and would have benefitted from expansion in both the depth of story and with character development.

I am glad that this was a rather quick read as I would not have liked to spend too much time finishing this collection of short stories.  It was nowhere near as engaging as Harold Fry or Queenie Henessey and I would not recommend others pick it up.