Those who respond with alarm may also be experiencing a pang of jealousy. A friend, who was facing four days of warring relatives, screaming children, an overcrowded house and a very fussy mother-in-law, heard about my Christmas Day of reading and cheesy pasta, and said, ‘Oh, dear God; I envy you so much.’

That said, as the world goes into tinsel over-drive, it’s almost impossible to see Christmas as ‘just another day’, and so I like to think of it as additional reading time to indulge fully in a book of my choice. Doesn’t that sound ideal?

While you might be nodding, voluntary festive solitude continues to be something others find difficult to approve of, perhaps because we’ve strayed away from the herd. For that reason, you won’t see us featured in a supermarket ad, and I doubt very much we’ll be appearing on any illustrated Christmas cards, perpetuating the myth that being alone can’t possibly be a positive thing. I know the opposite to be true. So, in an age where we are wonderfully and rightly keen on inclusivity, isn’t it about time solo Christmasses were included as well?

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon is out now in paperback with HarperCollins.

Images: Getty

“I find joy in spending Christmas alone. Stop feeling sorry for me”