Welcome to Litsy!

Perhaps his absence is a sign of hope. If there is mercy in the world, Captain Harry Balfour of the West Africa Squadron will spy this ship tossing upon whatever sea she sails and board her, set her captives free, right every wrong. It is not too much to ask. It is far too much to ask. It is not.
#Marlwy #JonClinch #book #books #bookcase #bookcases #HistoricalFiction #Fiction #Christmas #Retellings #Historical #BritishLiterature #Holiday 💚💚💚💚

Perhaps his absence is a sign of hope. If there is mercy in the world, Captain Harry Balfour of the West Africa Squadron will spy this ship tossing upon whatever sea she sails and board her, set her captives free, right every wrong. It is not too much to ask. It is far too much to ask. It is not.
#Marley #JonClinch #lastline #closingline #book #books #HistoricalFiction #Fiction #Christmas #Retellings #Historical #BritishLiterature #Holiday 🩵🩵🩵

This was an okay read. It was interesting to read about Marley from A Christmas Story. Overall an okay book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
#Marley #JonClinch #book #books #bookbag #bookbags #bookbinding #bookbeau #bookbackpack #bookbackpacks #bookblog #bookblogs #bookblogger #bookbloggers #booknerd #booknerds #booknerdsunite #booknerdy #booknook #booknation #nerd #nerds #Holiday #Fantasy #Classics #19thCentury #HistoricalFiction #Fiction #Christmas #Retellings 💓💓💓💓

Jacob Marley, business partner to Ebenezer Scrooge, is very much alive: a rapacious and cunning boy who grows up to be a forger, a scoundrel, and the man who will be both the making and the undoing of Scrooge.
#Marley #JonClinch #book #books #bookmark #bookmarks #bookmarket #bookmarkets #bookmoment #bookmoments #bookquote #bookquotes #bookqueen #quote #HistoricalFiction #Fiction #Christmas #Retellings #Historical #BritishLiterature #Holiday 💚💚

More villain origin story than a retelling. This was marvelous and the writing wonderfully Dickensian. We meet a nasty Marley, and a kind Scrooge as schoolboys and observe how Marley‘s influence pollutes Scrooge. You could continue straight to a Christmas Carol, and the transition would be seamless.

#BookedInTime
Marley 4 ⭐️
Christmas Carol 5 ⭐️
Great Expectations 5 ⭐️

It didn‘t take me long to get into this imagined backstory of Jacob Marley, whose ghost visits Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens‘ classic, A Christmas Carol, and to find myself fully invested in the development of the relationship of these two men. A clever and illuminating revelation as to the many reasons why Marley was doomed, as well as an elaboration on the love story between young Scrooge and Belle—and more! Recommended!

Settling down to start Marley with a cup of tea! Will the author enhance my devotion to Dickens‘ A Christmas Carol with this book? Or will I toss this into the trash, vowing not to fall again for a retelling of a beloved story from another character‘s perspective?

Sunrise, but no sun.
The merchant ship Marie tied up at the Liverpool docks hours ago, beneath an overcast sufficient to obliterate the moon and the stars—and now that dawn has arrived conditions have not improved.
#Marley #JonClinch #firstline #openingline #book #books #bookcase #bookcases #bookcover #bookcovers #bookcoverdesign #bookcoverdesigner #HistoricalFiction #Fiction #Christmas #Retellings #Historical #BritishLiterature #Fantasy 🩷🩷🩷🩷

If you‘re looking for an excellent holiday read, here‘s my suggestion.

An enthusiastic thumbs up for this one. Follows the original story elements and expands on them in an interresting way. The narration for the audiobook was sublime. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5⭐️

Ghosts, shipping, the slave trade, and felty poinsettias.
Audiobook for dog walking and holiday present making 🎄

#Marley #JonClinch #book #books #bookrecommendation #bookrecommendations #recommendation #recommendations #bookreport #bookreports #bookreview #bookreviews #bookriot #TBR #ToBeRead #TBRBingo #booktattoo #booktree #bookthief #booktopia #booktoday #bookyourself #bookunion #bookutopia #bookunicorn #bookunicorns #bookunhaul #bookish #bookishfeature #bookishfeatures #bookishlife #booksoflitsy #bookobsessed #bookobsession #bookoholic #bookoholics 🤎🤎🤎

Books I got for Christmas 🎄📚
#Marley #JonClinch #WelcomeToThePineAwayMotelAndCabins #KatarinaBivald #TheLastListOfMissJudithKratt #AndreaBobotis #book #books #bookkeeper #bookkeeping #bookkeeperlife #bookloot #booklist #booklust #booklove #booklover #booklovers #bookloversunite #bookz #bookzesty #bookzilla #bookzine #bookzone #bookxcess #bookcollection #bookcollector #bookcase #bookcases #bookcover #bookcovers #bookcoverdesign #bookcoverdesigner

I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought the prequel to A Christmas Carol was clever, but I didn‘t really like the story itself. #wintergames #mistletoemaniacs

Another book finished. Yay! #WinterGames2020 #ReadNosedReindeer

The premise of “A Christmas Carol” prologue where we see the nature of Marley and how Scrooge became the way he is was well outlined and intriguing; But while evocative of the era, it didn‘t quite meet the mark of being atmospheric and, certainly didn‘t get under my skin the way ‘Finn‘ did. Still, I would consider re-reading this before Dickens‘ Classic next year— so a Pick!

I loved the dark, twisted tale of ‘Finn‘ (about Huckleberry‘s father) so I asked for (and received) this book *last* Christmas. Now that I‘ve listened to “A Christmas Carol”, I‘m primed to dig into this “prequel”!

New book mail from My Book Tide subscription box.

current read which is kind of slow but I am enjoying it!!

Christmas magic: An entire unanticipated hour to read by the tree before the festivities begin! 🎁🎄

Ok,it‘s not Dickens but I didn‘t expect it to be. I enjoyed it even while hating Jacob Marley. Not sure how I feel about Fan‘s “hopeful and doomed” outcome.

Basically a proposed prequel. If you ever wondered what happened to Jacob Marley prior to the start of A Christmas Carol, this book fills in those blanks. The story takes place over the course of most of Scrooge's life. I do wish Clinch had focused a bit more time on when Marley and Scrooge were young at a boy's home. But their business partnership plotline is interesting too. This was a fun read before my annual re-read of A Christmas Carol.

This book was barely hanging onto to a so-so status from me because the reimagined ill-gotten gains of Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge were just too egregious. But it‘s very well-written and I started liking the book at the 2/3 mark. So why a pick? Well, in retrospect I clearly understand the homage to A Christmas Carol - when we know better we do better.

This is the second book I‘ve read that attempts to fill in the blanks of Jacob Marley‘s life. Here, Scrooge & Marley meet at a grim boarding school- & from the very start, the partnership between them is an unbalanced & dark one. There are a few Christmases here, but the dour notes of the book hardly make this one of Yuletide cheer! It‘s well-written & Clinch manages to evoke a Dickensian essence well. I hoped for a bit more redemption. #NetGalley