A Hamptons Christmas

by James Brady

Beecher Stowe couldn't be more pleased than to find himself spending that delicious season between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Hamptons. On his first weekend back, East Hampton stages its annual ragtag, irresistibly corny, small-townish Santa Claus parade, complete with a high school band and Santa on a flatbed truck. It's an old-fashioned American village Christmas (even if the elves include Spielberg's kids!). Stowe has even convinced his lady friend Alix Dunraven to join him and see the Hamptons without the summer people.

But Beecher and Her Ladyship's plans for an "out of season" frolic are complicated by the puzzling arrival of a small girl who may be named "Susannah" (she uses pseudonyms, she admits), skinny, precocious, and armed with a platinum card. The kid, who turns out to be the child of Dick and Nicole, a wealthy power couple whose bitter divorce has become the stuff of Page Six gossip and legal wrangling before the World Court at The Hague, has been farmed out by her parents to a Swiss convent.

Now, as Christmas nears, Susannah descends on East Hampton intent on spending the holidays with her role model, Martha Stewart, from whom she expects a warm welcome when she presents herself at her front door. The problem? Martha does Christmas at her other home in Westport, Connecticut. As the snow begins to fall, Beecher encounters a forlorn young Susannah sipping Shirley Temples at The Blue Parrot bar.

Can Alix and Beecher possibly salvage Christmas for this little girl lost?

Genres: Christmas

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

James Winston Brady was an American celebrity columnist who created the Page Six gossip column in the New York Post and authored the In Step With column in Parade for nearly 25 years until his death. He also authored numerous books about his time serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.

Brady was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. His career in journalism started working as a copy boy for the Daily News, where he worked while attending Manhattan College. He graduated in 1950. He left the paper to serve in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.During the war, he was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines first leading a rifle platoon and later acting as an executive officer of a rifle company at one point serving under John Chafee. The majority of his service took place in the North Korean Taebaek Mountains during the fall and bitterly cold winter of 1951 and 1952. Brady was awarded the Bronze Star with the Combat V (recognizing an award resulting from combat heroism) in November 2001 for his actions on May 31, 1952 in a firefight with Chinese forces near Panmunjom.

Brady died at age 80 on January 26, 2009 at his home in Manhattan.

James Brady is the father of Susan Konig.

Reviews

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mysterious 10-year-old girl appears in East Hampton, New York, looking for Martha Stewart so they can spend Christmas together, but Martha is out of town, so the girl is taken in by local man Beecher Stowe and his father, the Admiral. Although the girl lies about everything from her name, where she's from, her parents, and how she got to the Hamptons, she gradually opens up as they treat her nicely and introduce her to the town. Her parents show up later, more for publicity and money than love, then they go their separate ways. Not a realistic story - more like a fairy tale. Author drops names of many celebrities who live there, but there is no purpose for this except to mention their names.

[Doug Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok.. this is humor a little above my pay.. literally. I am certain it's far runnier to readers of parade.. The New York Post and the wall street Journal.. However.. I laughed a lot.. and found it very warm high end Christmas fare. It Takes place in the Hamptons.. and the more you know of the people that people the Hamptons.. the better.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. As I got into it I wondered why I was reading this? I mean it wasn't too amazing. It took quite a while to build. It might have been better as a short story.

[Lisa Frankfort]

a fun and quick read; perfect for the Christmas holiday.

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

""

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The social dynamics of the Hamptons in December is quite different from the summer months when the southeastern shores of Long Island become the playground of the rich and famous. During the chillier months of the year the locals have have to deal with the issues of rubbing elbows with themselves. The influence of the semi-annual influx of celebrities still has its affect on the community; a point that is driven home by the author through a healthy peppering of his sly references to household names from both the current tabloids as well as from literary classics. To be quite honest, his propensity for name dropping was so prodigious that I had to sweep the floor after every chapter.

This good-natured tale revolves around the collision of two central stories. The first being the rancor initiated among the locals when the last will and testament of a passing businessman (that's passing on, not passing through) prompts the buying up of all the remaining plots in the local cematary; and the second being the arrival of a young girl bent upon spending Christmas with Martha Stewart, the one year Martha has decided to winter elsewhere.

The selection of characters is rich. The satire is poignant. The humor is satisfying. Not at all a bad read for the holidays.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beecher finds himself in the Hamptons during a different "season" (Christmas) in this one where he meets a darling little rich girl runaway who longs to spend the holidays with Martha Stewart. Poor girl doesn't realize that Martha spends her Christmases in Connecticut. Beecher and Lady Alex (most annoying in this book) find adventures with the little girl. This book gives Brady the chance to prove that he is a true Hamptonite who does spend time there off-season. I don't think I'd read this one on the beach. Perhaps by a fireside in Aspen? Three stars because of the winter description of the Hamptons (I've never been there in the winter).

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing-took almost 100 pages for a story to develop. Before that, the book seemed to consist of lists - lists of people, known and obscure, lists of happening, known and obscure, etc. I feel Brady was treating The Hamptons tongue-in-cheek, but the method was boring.
There was enough of an underlying mystery to hang with the book, because it was short.
I did like the end.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to stay on track but a good story.