Last Gift

Thomas Ruys Smith is professor of American literature and culture at the University of East Anglia. He is the author or editor of a number of books, including Deep Water: The Mississippi River in the Age of Mark Twain and Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth-Century America.

Thomas Ruys Smith's edition of Freeman's Christmas stories is a revelation! All our presumptions about holiday stories being drenched in sentimentality are demolished by the ways in which Freeman probes the multiple meanings inherent in the acts of giving and receiving gifts and exposes the forms of both solitude and communion inherent in Christmas. This collection transforms our understanding of the season and enhances the literary reputation of this remarkable author." - Alfred Bendixen, executive director of the American Literature Association"A lovely and varied collection of Freeman's often-neglected Christmas stories. Smith's lively introduction contextualizes Freeman's portrayal of the holiday season, in all of its complexity, and the domestic tensions that Christmas evoked for nineteenth-century women." - Leah Blatt Glasser, author of In a Closet Hidden: The Life and Work of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman