Peter Cratchitt is the brother of Tiny Tim! He's had a rough life when the reader first meets him. In Peter Cratchit's Christmas Carol, Peter is barely scraping together enough food to survive. In exchange for sexual favors, men give him much-needed scraps of food and some warmth in his otherwise cold existence.

It's been a long road to where Peter Cratchitt is now. This story picks up shortly after the original work left off. Peter sets off on a voyage to make his fortune and take care of his family. On his voyage, he meets and falls in love with Augie. In their time together, they become very close and Peter experiences love for the first time. He's content until things take a dark turn and everything begins to go wrong.

I loved this story even though parts of it were sad, other parts bitter-sweet. It is closely based on the original Christmas Carol and the author has done a great job of keeping the right atmosphere and language to go with the original. The writing is accessible and in the right style at the same time.

The atmosphere of the time is dark and a bit dismal at times...but that's in keeping with the time period in which the story is set. It was, no doubt, difficult to live without an income in Dickensian times. Peter is living a hard life ... and thinks that he can't possibly be of any benefit to his family. I suppose we all have moments like that.

This is a great holiday story... and a lovely tribute to Dickens' well-loved tale. ( )