The twelve days of Christmas are fast approaching and Mole is planning to enjoy every one of them with his River Bank friends. So when the normally cheerful Toad despairs at the arrival of Mrs. Ffleshe, a quite impossibly rude houseguest who every year sets out to protect Toad from overindulgence, Mole must do something about it. But the plan he hatches with Ratty, Badger, and Otter to rescue Toad goes horribly wrong. With the prospect of spending Christmas in jail and a trial for capital offences soon to follow, Mole will have to work hard if he is to salvage something of the Christmas spirit for his friends.

The Willows at Christmas is the crowning achievement of William Horwood's masterly cycle of sequels to Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. The new story is set just after the original, but before Horwood's critically acclaimed The Willows in Winter, which so brilliantly brought the much-loved River Bankers back to life. It will give pleasure to the countless readers around the world who have reveled in each new work, and capture the loyalty and imagination of many new readers. Merry Christmas!