The Mistletoe Seller is Dilly Court’s Christmas novel, the latest in her long series of historical fiction novels.

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The background context is a baby found on the pre-Ripper Christmas Eve streets of Whitechapel, in the falling snow. Taken in by a kind-hearted woman, her life takes a bad twist, and she finds herself thrown onto the cobblestone streets of Covent Garden, to fend for herself.

Angel Winter is the protagonist, and narrator throughout the novel, and her predicament as Winter closes in is dire. She got her name from the street where she was found, but now she sells mistletoe to passing City Gentlemen, a starting scenario reminiscent of Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Match Girl, struggling to make enough.

However, Angel does not see her granny in visions, although she does have a gold & ruby ring that could hold the key to her future (she would never sell this of course!).

Angel of course is beautiful, doesn’t seem to have any bitterness in her for how her life began or developed, and most people seem to want to help her for her own sake.

The Mistletoe Seller is a heart-warming story, with likeable characters filled with stoicism and self-reliance, but also being able to ask for help. It falls completely in line with the season and the sentimentality of Victorian-era romance novels. It is very festive, very fast-paced, and contains nice twists and turns to keep the attention.

I am not a fan of this genre, and the novel doesn’t disappoint. It is well-researched, though, and convincingly evokes the atmosphere of the time. Dilly Court’s legion of fans will love this, the story of Angel gradually discovering who she is and the details of her past, and would make a lovely Christmas present to those who love period drama-type novels. ( )

Dilly Court's plots are rather unlikely. In this case, Angel goes from rags to riches and back several times. However, the writing is good, and it's all good fun. ( )