“Last night, the snow fell, and then I began to remember.There is no one else left now, no one who remember it at all. Mother and Father are long dead. And, brother Will, gone for a soldier…”

In 1987 I came across this delightful, poignant Christmas book. Lanterns Across the Snow was written by Susan Hill, a wonderful British author who writes lovely, spooky ghost stories as well in a style reminiscent of Daphne DuMaurier and Rumer Godden.

This story moved me deeply when I first read it. I am sure it moved me to tears. There is nothing like an old childhood memory to dredge up the tears.  It is a reminiscence. An old woman begins to remember the last Christmas she spent living in a rural country village at the age of nine. Her Father, the local Vicar, ministered to the poor and sickly and as well as the Manor house. The young Fanny recalls, “I remember the carol singers coming with their lanterns across the snow, and their voices, and the sound of the flute and the fiddle..

I believe this book might be hard to find. I think there may be used copies on Amazon. If you collect Christmas books, this book would be a nice addition.