Paris, Christmas Eve, 1933 For once it was an accident. Violette did not mean to kill St Nicholas. But there he was, with blood on the cobblestones, and a family waiting for the Christmas Eve miracle that would never come. And her own family expecting her to eat Christmas goose tomorrow at Shillings Hall in England. Violette Jones had led a life of melodrama since being born in the middle of a war to an espionage agent. But even she had never had to face a bloodied St Nicholas, and somehow conjure three miracles for Christmas. Another story for the many fans of the Miss Lily series.

From the author of Miss Lily's Lovely Ladies comes a special free gift for her readers. A moving and heart-warming story that is perfect for Christmas - and beyond. December1918 Thisfirst peacetime Christmas should be perfect. Butthis is a ceasefire, not peace. Influenza ravages Europe and the hospital suppliesSophie ordered six months ago have not arrived from Australia. Andthe old woman in Ward 3 will not stop knitting. Yeteven in war-torn Europe, Christmas miracles are possible, as a stranger revealsthe extraordinary story of how thousands of female resistance workers sentcoded messages, including the most important message a woman can send. Andsomehow Christmas does arrive, the perfect Christmas, with love from Miss Lily.

Thirty-two writers share their observations and revelations about the world's most seductive city. "Whether you have lived in Paris or not, this captivating collection will transport you there." —National Geographic Traveler Paris is “the world capital of memory and desire,” concludes one of the writers in this intimate and insightful collection of memoirs of the city. Living in Paris changed these writers forever. In thirty-two personal essays—more than half of which are here published for the first time—the writers describe how they were seduced by Paris and then began to see things differently. They came to write, to cook, to find love, to study, to raise children, to escape, or to live the way it’s done in French movies; they came from the United States, Canada, and England; from Iran, Iraq, and Cuba; and—a few—from other parts of France. And they stayed, not as tourists, but for a long time; some are still living there. They were outsiders who became insiders, who here share their observations and revelations. Some are well-known writers: Diane Johnson, David Sedaris, Judith Thurman, Joe Queenan, and Edmund White. Others may be lesser known but are no less passionate on the subject. Together, their reflections add up to an unusually perceptive and multifaceted portrait of a city that is entrancing, at times exasperating, but always fascinating. They remind us that Paris belongs to everyone it has touched, and to each in a different way.