The Twelve Dames of Christmas, 2018: #1

Back in 2016, I got it into my head to commemorate the end-of-the-year holiday season with a “Twelve Dames of Christmas” series constructed around vintage novels boasting the word “dame” in their titles. Turns out, there are more than a few such works, and I’ve been collecting additional specimens ever since. So today, as we slide into the annual Twelve Days of Christmas, or Twelvetide (