A Christmas Memory is a collection of six short stories by Truman Capote. The majority of the stories are based on his memories of growing up in Alabama during the Depression era.

The stories that feature his elderly, unmarried cousin, Miss Sook, are the most touching of the collection. After reading the first story, no reader, will be able to bake a Christmas cake without thinking of the care and delight that Miss Sook and Buddy (her name for Capote) took in pulling together the ingredients for the many cakes, that they would make each year, for those that they considered to be their friends. Capote’s writing style is superb, not a single word is wasted, but with each one, that he carefully selects, he paints a vivid picture of the scenes from his childhood. You can clearly visualise each character and their surroundings but also the atmosphere and the feeling of the time.

The only negative is that the memories do reflect how a young boy would have seen that time in America. Rosa Parks has not yet decided to refuse to sit at the back of a bus, and Martin Luther King recognised that parts of Alabama, were still in 1963, some of the most segregated parts of the USA. In one of the stories a young black girl is tormented by two white boys, who seem to imply that they think they should be able to take her into a barn for some forced activities. Thankfully another girl intervenes. The N-word is used as part of this scene in the story. I would have preferred the whole book far more if this story had not been included, and as there is very little mention of Christmas within the tale, it would not feel like a great loss to those that want a Christmas book, if the story had not been included. At the same time though it did bring to life what that time period was like to live in, and Harper Lee of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ fame was a childhood and lifelong friend of Capote. It made me appreciate Lee’s character of Scout, in both of the novels that she features in, even more, as it becomes clear how much of a stand she would have had to have taken in order to have advocated for equal treatment for all in that time and place.

The collection of memories does end on a high, which shows the poverty that Alabama’s lived through at this time, but with a heart-warming ending, that will make you feel ready for Christmas. I will certainly re-read several of these stories each Christmas and I love the cover of this Penguin Classics version. I’m sure with some slight re-writing and beautiful illustrations that a number of these stories could be turned into a children’s classic. At the moment though, it provides a chance for us adults to be transported back into the Christmas joy of being a child at Christmas again.

I love the writing of Truman Capote and wanted to read a book to get me in the mood for the Christmas holidays. The book contains three stories that are connected tales that help to raise that Christmas spirit. Told with the accomplishment of an excellent author these stories are tender and bittersweet.

Buddy recalls his distant Christmases that he shared with aging relatives on their Alabama Farm. We hear of his unlikely friendship with Sook, his beloved maiden ‘aunt’, The stories are gentle and warming and ideal to get you in the Christmas mood.

Enjoyable read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin Classics for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are significant authors who are missing in my reading history, and Truman Capote was one of them. I now realise what a treat I've been missing. The first story in this little collection is the best. It transported me within moments to Buddy and Sook's life and I felt immersed in it. As they went to fetch the Christmas tree it was as if I walked with them, experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the woods.

It really is wonderful to read good old-fashioned prose with not a single wasted word.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to finally get to know this author.

With the exception of his two most famous works - In Cold Blood and Breakfast At Tiffany's, both of which I enjoyed as an English Literature student - I'd never read anything by Truman Capote. But I am an absolute sucker for a festive book, especially one with a cover as beautiful as this one. The contents were surprising: in a good way. Only a handful of the short stories and autobiographical tales are Christmassy, but the insights into Capote's unusual upbringing in rural Alabama (and particularly his lovely friendship with his mother's distant cousin) were delightful.

One pictures Truman Capote as the effete sophisticate he became, but of course both his most famous creations, himself and Holly Golightly, are products of the backwoods, recreated and remade in an urban and urbane image. So here, where I think I was expecting stories of glistening New York, which cinema has firmly cemented in my mind as one of the definitive Christmas locations, up there with Victorian London. Not so: except for the somewhat misplaced Master Misery, these are very much stories from out in the sticks. But of course that can work too: "Small towns are best for spending Christmas, I think. They catch the mood quicker and change and come alive under its spell." And if rural Alabama doesn't have much chance of a white Christmas, well, nor does jolly old London town anymore since we broke the planet. The first three pieces here – two Christmas, one Thanksgiving smuggled in because it has to go somewhere – seem the most firmly autobiographical, detailing Capote's upbringing among distant relations, his firm friendship with an elderly cousin, and already one sees the genesis of the interest in found families and beautiful things, however small and silly, which would recur in his later work. Unless, of course, he's finessed the details to retrospectively plant these seeds, because for all they read as true, I'm not mug enough to take that for proof of factual accuracy.

Whether the stories Children On Their Birthdays and Jug Of Silver are as true as they're presented, I have no idea. I'm by no means a Capote expert; even after this slim festive collection I've probably spent more of my life listening to the 18 Carat Love Affair song Truman Capote than I have reading Truman Capote, which is saying something given the band's brief but wonderful span, and that it's not something one exactly heard out a lot even when there was an out in which to hear it. But Children On Their Birthdays could easily be considered Holly's tale as told from the small town, and one where she never gets away, while Jug Of Silver revisits those dreams of escape in a way that could easily have come across as schmaltzy were it not for the ostensibly unflinching tone in which it's told, and the way the ending is ultimately left hanging. It's the story of a rivalry between two small-town drugstores which ends up turning on one of those classic guessing games – correctly name how much coinage is in a jar, and win the lot. On which the poorest kids in town inevitably become fixated. Obviously there are lines which come very close to home in Christmas 2020: "Hope of this kind is a cruel thing to give anybody and I'm damned sorry I was ever a party to it." But more than that, I was very surprised when it's mentioned that, apart from strange little Appleseed, everyone has been guessing round numbers! Is that a general change in the world since this story was published, or a peculiarity of Capote himself, and his neatness? Because I've always assumed that when it comes to guessing games, tie-breakers and the like, most people will steer clear of the round numbers.

But yes. Strange pieces all, homespun heart intended and to some extent present, yet always a certain brittleness too. Clearly he could write, but I think there's a reason I never became a fan as such.

(Netgalley ARC)

I've had In Cold Blood on my To Be Read pile for years without it ever making it to the top. Truman Capote is one of those writers where you feel you know them even if you've never picked up one of their books. Still, I was intrigued to see that Penguin Modern Classics have reissued six of Capote's short stories which centre around a wintry or festive theme; A Christmas Memory seemed like a perfect choice for Blogmas.

The first three stories in the collection are the titular 'A Christmas Memory' then 'The Thanksgiving Visitor' and 'One Christmas', all of which are autobiographical, featuring recollections of the young 'Buddy' living with his aunts and uncle. The other three stories are 'Master Misery', 'Children on their Birthdays' and 'Jug of Silver', although puzzlingly when I checked the chapter listings on the ebook preview on Amazon, it didn't mention 'Children on their Birthdays'. But I can only comment on what I received in my review copy.

I found the autobiographical content to be more effective than the fiction. It's possible that I felt that I was on familiar territory. The character of Buddy, Capote's own younger self, is so recognisably Dill from To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee and Capote were childhood friends, going on to collaborate together on In Cold Blood. It was interesting to catch what he was doing when he was away from the Finches. As Buddy, he even remarks on the sin of shooting a mockingbird. In these stories, Buddy's closest bond is with his Aunt Sook, a child-like woman who joins in many of his games and daydreams. As in so many Christmas-themed stories, there is a heavy helping of nostalgia but with Capote there is an extra emphasis on the bittersweet.

Why is it that we always look back on our childhood Christmases with such fascination? We try the best we can to recreate them as adults but how often do we ever achieve that same magical excitement? Each of the stories are retold through the lens of an adult. While the whirl of Christmas tradition may appear evergreen, the adult narrator knows that things are about to change very abruptly when he is sent away to school. From there, Sook will lose her omnipotence and will fade from his life. I had a sad feeling that no one ever replaced her in Capote's affections.

Yet there are lessons to be taken. I think that my favourite of the collection was 'The Thanksgiving Visitor' where Buddy tries to take revenge a childhood bully only for Sook to teach him that 'there is only one unpardonable sin - deliberate cruelty. All else can be forgiven. That, never.' That resonated. When I look back on my life thus far, the only times when I have ever found it difficult to forgive is when I have seen the flash of deliberate cruelty. A sight you never forget.

The other story that I particularly enjoyed was 'One Christmas' where young Buddy visits his father. Once again there is something fascinating going on here in how Capote captures the child's realisation about the work that goes in to Christmas. Beyond the sparkle and glitter, Christmas can expose uncomfortable family truths.

The other three tales felt more variable. 'Mister Misery' seemed to have some interesting shared themes with Breakfast at Tiffany's but was also far darker. 'Children on their Birthdays' had a fantastic central character and punchline but 'Silver Jar' left little impression.

Capote captures beautifully the kaleidoscopic feel of memory but has a melancholy quality about it. If it came with a soundtrack, there would be sad piano instrumentals. It's beautiful writing but I can't quite imagine purchasing this as a Christmas present. Still, I've finally tried out Truman Capote and now I really do need to read In Cold Blood.

This was a great way to ease into the festive reads I have planned. Truman Capote’s writing is so elegant and evocative, in no time at all you find yourself in the South, rooting in the bushes for pecans and berries to go in the Christmas cakes you’ll send off to the White House.

This series of short stories centres mainly around Buddy and Miss Sook, best friends and cousins who just happen to be decades apart in age. We travel with Buddy through a few different Christmases, getting to know Miss Sook and Queenie, the rat terrier, as well as Buddy’s school mates and his hopes and dreams.

One of the things I like the best about memoirs is that you don’t have to hold out to the end of the story to find out what happened. There’s little narrative tension because you find out the beginning, middle and end of the character arc in the same twenty pages. Buddy’s Dad, seen through the eyes of a child who’s never been out of Alabama and is summoned to New Orleans, is a drunk who is trying his best with a child he’s never taken an interest in before. It becomes clear that he only really wants to check that Buddy isn’t ‘going wrong’ hanging about with his cousin Sook, who is still a child, really. Fast forward and the end of the story tells us that he is long dead, and his death revealed a sentimental depth to him the young Buddy didn’t realise.

Capote writes like a child, in that you can feel his frustration at being picked on by the school bully who is promptly invited to tea – on Christmas, no less! How unfair that his bad behaviour is rewarded. You are right with him when he’s scrimping together enough money to post the Christmas cakes, to make the kite for Miss Sook when he knows she is also making him one. It’s a really impressive, multi layered show of writing in that you can read the Buddy as an adult looking back, knowing what he knows now of people and the family around him, but also through his younger self’s perspective when there was a lot you didn’t know, were protected from, or didn’t understand.

I have read Capote before, a long time ago – Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the other stories in that collection. After reading this one, I’d like to go on to read In Cold Blood as I think the way he understands people, even those who you think shouldn’t be afforded the privilege of empathy, is fascinating.

I recommend this for everyone looking for a way to get into the Christmas spirit, via little windows to someone else’s world.

Thank you as always to Netgalley for this copy and to Penguin Classics for the approval. This title is out now – a perfect stocking filler for you or for someone else!

The short stories in A Christmas Memory were so charming! I loved the autobiographical stories that were filled with anecdotes about past Christmases and you could feel the love that was put into each one.

I loved the line “Oh my, it’s fruitcake weather!” and the story around it was so touching and heartwarming, and it’s an easy quick read that will guarantee to fill you with festive memories and warmness - a must read!

This is a lovely collection of stories and I was impressed with Capote's skill with the prose, having not read him before. I think my favourite stories were the ones with Sook, his aunt who never quite grew up, but can still impart wisdom on the young Capote.

Now I'll finally get around to that copy of In Cold Blood I've had lying around for months...

This story has a lovely sentimentality to it and really captures the whole varying side to Christmas whether it is making fruit cakes for kindly strangers or finding out Father Christmas isn't real it encompasses all the feelings (good and no so good) of a Christmas as a child. Buddy and his eccentric family are heartwarming to read about, even the darker aspects you see are brightened by Capote's brilliant storytelling. The book leaves you reminiscent of the yesteryear and it leaves you warm and comforted. It's a beautiful story and I'm glad I've finally read it.

Truman Capote wrote and rewrote A Christmas Memory over a great many years. By the time he wrote the first version he was already a seasoned writer of short stories but like most of his autobiographical works it contained as much untruth as truth.
Penguin Modern Classics have included a fine selection of stories from the time before the tortured literary genius of Truman Capote was consummed by the demons of drink and drugs and his banishment from high society celebrity status led to near fatal writer's block.
The Great Depression of the 1930s is a poignant backdrop to the poverty of childhood in Alabama and such endearing characters as Miss Sook.

Truman Capote writes a collection of short stories of different Christmas memories. I really enjoyed this collection and the writing was very atmospheric. I loved the story involving the Fruitcake and the story with the process involved in baking form getting the ingredients to the baking of it.
It is a book of its time and also provides a snapchat to the 1950s and what life was like.
Overall I found the flow and pacing of the book well done and thought each story flowed well into the next one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book surpasses Dickens as my go to Christmas time read. The most perfectly heartwarming Christmas treat ever. It shows the true value and wonder of Christmas.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this book. It is so special to me.

An enchanting book of short stories, some of which relate to the author's childhood experiences of the festive season-and they are beautifully written. The small details of life in 1930s America are particularly interesting and the detail given really brings the story to life. The small town attitude and nosiness, the little things that enhanced the day, as well as the extreme poverty suffered during this period of the Great Depression are all brought to life in this book. This book is a window into a time gone by, absolutely fascinating!

Sweet and quaint little stories intertwined and looking back at his childhood in a small town and adventures with his maiden aunt. I loved "fruitcake weather" and them picking nuts from the trees to go into the cake as well as festive tales and helping others less fortunate than themselves.

I spent a delightful afternoon putting up my Christmas tree, then poured myself a glass of mulled wine and settled down to read a festive themed book, this one: A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.

Comprising of six short stories, this is a biographical wander into Christmas moments, inspired by writer Truman Capote’s life.

Some of the tales had a vague Christmas link, others were more blatant and I particularly loved the ones that focused on young Buddy’s friendship with his much older cousin, Sook who is a pure soul and teaches him a lot about human nature. As Christmas is a time for goodwill and love – she is a beacon of that.

Amongst the evocative stories of small-town Christmases, local legends and rituals, there is are some contrasting stories including a particularly bleak tale about a woman, Sylvia who literally sells her dreams to make money and the unfortunate ending of Miss Bobbit… There to remind us, I guess, about balance and happiness.

Written in Truman Capote’s signature lyrical tone – A Christmas Memory is packed full of canny observations and is an engaging blend of joy, realisation and bittersweet moments that always seem to come to light through the festive season.

I loved how none of these stories conveyed a sort of ‘traditional’ Christmas scene – highlighting that everyone’s version of this time of year really is unique. It’s always nice to get an insight into another person’s Christmas, so if you’re looking for a take on festive stories that definitely contain no schmalz, then pour yourself a mulled wine and spend an afternoon with A Christmas Memory.

From a nostalgic look at Truman Capote's childhood to a somewhat speculative fiction story about a woman selling her dreams, these short stories all have that wintry festive feel, whilst being some very different kinds of Christmas spirit.

I really enjoyed this set of short stories. They weren't exactly festive, but they did feel like a small, personal and whimsically bittersweet into someone's past. Most of the stories focus on Capote's childhood in Alabama, from his incredibly sweet relationship with his Aunt Sook, to a tale involving his uncle's café and a competition.

They really did feel like small snippets of memory and were told in a very engaging manner.

The central story, sandwiched in between Capote's own childhood memories was something a little darker and creepier set against a snowy New York backdrop, and involving a young girl selling her dreams and being left somewhat empty and alone. It had some Little Match Girl vibes.

These stories are a little escapist, a little sad and a little bittersweet but full of wintry nostalgia.

This festive short story collection is very of its time (1950s), particularly when it comes to how people of colour are described, but it was charming. The stories that are quite obviously autobiographical, featuring a young boy living in the countryside, reminded me of something like Huckleberry Finn, with the same sweet naivety. The descriptions of food are particularly good, evoking the contradiction of excess at Christmas in a life of poverty.

With the reign of my current Book Of The Year “Swan Song” by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott coming to an end I have made good my promise to myself to explore further the writings of her central character, Truman Capote. Penguin Classics have put out for this festive season a collection of six of his short stories around the theme of Christmas.
I read an early review edition which was without any introduction which I would have really appreciated to put these tales in context. I’m not sure whether this would be put right in the published version but it seems the stories span from 1945 when Capote was a callow youth of 21 to a tale which is copyrighted 1982 so may not have seen the light until a couple of years before his death, but I guess was probably written much earlier.
Capote writes with a sense of nostalgia which is so appropriate for the festive period and I could see some of these stories ending up in my “read yearly” list. I don’t know enough about him to know how autobiographical they are (again an introduction would have helped). The first three feature the narrator’s relationship with an elderly yet almost child-like female cousin, Miss Sook, who the young protagonist adores. “A Christmas Memory” is a wistful tale of seasonal preparations and their relationship is explore further in “A Thanksgiving Visitor” (okay, not quite Xmas) where her role as care-giver and educator is enhanced. The young boy spends Christmas with an absent father in “One Christmas.” The least successful story “Master Misery” dates from 1949 and is a more brittle New York tale with a female main character which deals in the importance of dreams and will no doubt have some bearing on his later (1958) novel which confirmed his literary superstar status. “Breakfast At Tiffanys”.
My favourite story is also not especially Christmassy, “Children On Their Birthdays” shows strong characterisation and his plot of a new young female arrival in town is highly involving. It is also characterisation which is the strong point of “Jug Of Silver” but it is not as fully realised as its predecessor in the book.
This has really whetted my appetite for more Capote. I like his style. He handles the short story format well and I’m even beginning to feel a little more joyous towards the coming festival after reading it.

A series of glimpses of Christmas through the eyes of Truman Capote. If you've read anything about Capote's life you'll spot the bits that are inspired by his own experiences. Christmas traditions, intergenerational friendships, absent parents and Alabama all feature. I see that there are people here who really love it - I liked it but wasn't as enthralled as a lot of people seem to have been.