Mr. Huffam

A Christmas Story

By: Hugh Walpole

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day.

'Mr. Huffam' is a heartwarming story about a delightful stranger who, on account of his personal bonhomie and his wonderful ability to tell stories, charms the household of Sir Roderick Winslow, from the haughty aristocratic relatives to the domestics. Before they know it, he has moved into the guest room. But who is the jovial stranger, and what does he want with them? When the stranger suggests holding a Christmas party and takes complete control of the invitation list, it is clear that the Winslows are in for a surprise.

Public Domain (P)2016 Red Door Audiobooks

Aaaaaaah! Now here is a little Christmas gem

Mr Walpole has left us a lovely little reminder of the importance of having a child-like heart. Excelsior!

Great story; irritating narrator

I think this is my first experience with the author’s work and what a lovely story it is, especially for a Dickens aficionado like myself. Unfortunately, the narrator’s style of reading was odd to the point of irritating and irritating almost to the point of being a deal-breaker in terms of my being able to recommend this book (I looked on Audible for another version but they don’t carry one; perhaps another source does). The narrator has this very off-putting diction habit where she sort of slightly holds on to and falls off of the last syllable of the last word in each sentence (think “Cher“ and her singing style); it was like listening to a woman do a bad imitation of the character Uriah Heep from David Copperfield. It actually made the shortness of the story a plus instead of a minus. :(