Christmas 2025 Newsletter
Dearest Friends and Readers,
This will be a brief Newsletter because I am up against several deadlines and I haven’t even thought about Christmas and New Year yet!
I have been in Marseille for the last three days doing a little research, checking a few details for my novel in progress. The sun has shone down on the old harbour, silver and warm.
Nôtre Dame de la Garde has been given a facelift and now gleams golden for all to see in all weathers. It is the tradition that the cathedral is renovated every thirty to fifty years. The work was unveiled on 8th December, so a couple of days before we arrived. The restoration work on Our Lady’s crown has required 27,000 leaves of gold.
Our Lady, known as La Bonne Mère, and who towers above the city’s hilly cathedral is the beacon of safe harbour for the sailors, fishermen and sea travellers, to find their way back to land. She is beckoning all to come under her safe protection. In these days of war and turbulence and misunderstanding, I like to sit and watch her from the distance of our room at the Hotel Bellevue way down in the Vieux Port.
By the way, all these landmarks have found their way into my new novel, The Girl From Marseille which I am working hard to finish and hand in as a first draft soon into the New Year. Wish me luck!
(These two pics are from the internet; copyright is not mine. Thank you for the use of …)
It has been a terrible year for loss. Two very dear friends, both of whom I have known and loved since my early twenties, have left us this year. Michael R and Susie F, you are both in my prayers and thoughts this holiday season. As are your partners and families.
Michel and I are planning a very low-key time together for the holidays. We have both been working very hard and doing lots of travelling so the peace and quiet will be our perfect gift. We are reaching the age where we need to pause and consider our health!
In my free time I am having great fun re-reading Patricia Highsmith who was a marvellous writer of novels and short stories. You will, no doubt, know her Ripley books if nothing else, but there are plenty of others to discover.
My own most recent opus, One Summer in Provence seems to be doing well. If you haven’t read it, do buy it and bring some sunshine to your winter days. Here is the link to the Kindle version or you can find it in all good bookshops.
I hope you enjoy a wonderful Christmas and end of year. Peace to you whether you are celebrating this holiday season or not.
I pray that 2026 will bring PEACE to the world.
Keep reading, enjoy your days and tell your loved ones how much you love them.
A special call out to my wonderful webmaster, Bart Hulley, who sends all these letters out for me and generally holds my hand through my tech ignorance. Happy Christmas, Bart!
Thank you, dear readers, for being here. I hope to see you somewhere before too long in 2026.
Love,
Carol
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