Friday Reads: The Little Village Christmas

The Little Village Christmas by Sue Moorcroft

I can't resist a story set in a charming English village so when I saw The Little Village Christmas by Sue Moorcroft in my local Chapters bookstore I had to buy it. I've been meaning to read one of her novels and the fictional village of Middledip seemed like the perfect place to start.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a village as "a group of houses and associated buildings, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town, situated in a rural area". Some have evocative names like Widecombe-in-the-Moor, a tiny village on the windswept moors of Dartmoor National Park.

The Dartmoor Village of Wildecombe-in-the-Moor

Others are picturesque villages with a colourful past like the Cornish fishing village of Polperro, famed for its history of smuggling. 

The Cornish Fishing Village of Polperro

Though a village may be small in size it may be much larger in stature. The riverside village of Bodinnick is home to Ferryside, the family vacation home of author Daphne du Maurier.

Daphne du Maurier's Ferryside in the Riverside Village of Bodinnick

And the village known as Portwenn on the popular British TV series Doc Martin is really the charming little village of Port Isaac on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall. 

Port Isaac, the Real Village of Portwenn

The Little Village Christmas is one of several books by Sue Moorcroft set in Middledip. Also on my radar are her novels One Summer in Italy and Just for the Holidays (set in France).

Sue Moorcroft's website is suemoorcroft.com.


Do you prefer the excitement of a big city or the quiet charm of village life?

Related Posts:
From Cornwall to Dorset
Daphne du Maurier's Fowey
Doc Martin's Port Isaac