The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth BraddonMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was as curmudgeonly against this old tale as the character Sir John Penlyon was about life at first. It seemed dull and but a feeble carbon copy of one of my favorite classics, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It did borrow from that tale but as the children characters came onto the page of this book I became delighted with the story. Sadly that didn't last. Their bright little characters lightened the story as it lightened the heart of old Sir John Penlyon. By the end though he still liked her for selfish reasons and didn't grow as a character in a way I would consider worth telling a story about. So while I liked the middle of the story a little, overall it was boring and to me the resolution fell short. The character growth I was hoping for was lacking. I got this book for free from Audible and continued reading it only to finish it so my list of books read could pile up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge. When in the middle of the story I was glad I kept listening, but by the end it wasn't worth it to me. To each his own. Read A Christmas Carol by Dickens instead ;)
On the bright side - Richard Armitage's narration of the story was very good.
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