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Jenny Twist was born in York and brought up in the West Yorkshire mill town of Heckmondwike, the eldest grandchild of a huge extended family.
She left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant (she was The Lovely Tanya), she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history, at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.
She stayed in Oxford working as a recruitment consultant for many years and it was there that she met and married her husband, Vic.
In 2001 they retired and moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dogs and cat. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, knitting and attempting to do fiendishly difficult logic puzzles.
Since moving to Spain she has written four novels and numerous short stories.
In July 2018 she was awarded the coveted TOP FEMALE AUTHOR award in Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal/Science Fiction by The Authors Show
Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite
Six Tales of Christmas by Jenny Twist is a collection of short stories, as the title suggests, themed around Christmas. Uncle Albert’s Christmas explores the dilemma faced by many elderly people who feel manipulated by their relatives, especially after their spouse has passed, when in reality all they want is to be left alone with their memories, or to pursue their own adventures. In An Extraordinary Coincidence, Twist introduces us to a modern-day Joseph and Mary who are jokingly contemplating the wisdom of calling their soon-to-be-born son Jesus. Home for Christmas examines the plight of the elderly who are often forced into retirement homes against their will by relatives who just want them out of sight and out of mind, but, of course, assure them it is for their “own good.” Jamey and the Alien goes to the other end of the spectrum and looks at a “Christmas Miracle” through the eyes of a little boy whose father is terminally ill. Two more stories and a bonus ghost story at the end round out this lovely collection.
As with any collection or anthology, as readers, we have our favourites, but I can honestly say, with perhaps the exception of An Extraordinary Coincidence, I found all of the stories to be beautiful, moving and conveying a relevant message in their own way. Each story carried a strong homily about love and about family, and Jenny Twist certainly got her points across in these Six Tales of Christmas. If I had to pick a couple of favourites, I would probably plump for Marion, and Jamey and the Alien. The latter story, with its “Christmas Miracle,” was heart-warming and, from a child’s perspective, very realistic. Marion was just beautiful. It was so easy to identify with the old man, who felt the loss of his beloved Marion more on occasions such as Christmas. It was just a sweet, wonderful little tale. As I said, all these stories were fantastic and I can highly recommend this collection as a must-read at Christmas (to put you in the right spirit) and any other time of the year that you need uplifting. Wonderful, Jenny Twist.
