Book Review: Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury

Charles Dicken's is well known for his 1843 story A Christmas Carol.  For the mass of individuals today,  this is the most familiar both of his overall writings as well as his Christmas stories (of which he wrote several more).  The story has proved itself so popular that it has never been out of print since the year of its publication and has been the subject of multiple big screen and small screen interpretations.

What was unknown to me - until this Christmas - is that Louisa May Alcott also did the same thing.

Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury (published 2002) is a compilation of stories written by Miss Alcott (1832-1888) and edited by Stephen W. Hines.  I would not have known of this book at all but that I was sorting through my mother's books. This was on the same shelf as innumerable cat themed Christmas books and comfortable Christian Romance Christmas stories.  Knowing of Dickens' stories and at least recognizing Alcott's name, my interest was piqued.

Miss Alcott remains a lacking point in my literary education (to be fair, my overall 19th Century author and authoress knowledge is minimal at best).  Most have heard of her books Little Women and Little Men, but these are the sorts of books that have (I suspect) fallen out of general literature reading curricula and now are the province of the specialized major class or of the individual (like myself) in need of remediation.

I knew a bit of her story:  born into poverty, she single-handedly worked to pull her family out of poverty by her writing.   Remaining unmarried, she lived with and cared for her family until her own death.

The book itself is a compilation of short stories and novellas (including the Christmas scene in Little Women) that have been "adapted" by the author (how adapted is never explained).  The stories are a mix, with young children, teenagers, young adults, and even older adults all having some kind of main role - a reminder that it is never too early or too late to show the Christmas Spirit.

The poverty of Alcott's youth and her family's involvement in early social reform shows through in the stories.  Poverty is described, not in the 21st Century Western World as it is known, but in 19th Century America where there were no social nets. As these are Christmas stories, they are all set in Winter, and the brutality of a New England Winter is not trivialized.  Cold, a lack of food, worrying about where the next day's meal is to come from (let alone the next year) - all of these are present.

And yet this is not the main focus of the stories.

"It is no wonder then that so many of her stories feature practical charity and happy endings.  Such was the shape of her life.  Do not reject charity, nor look down upon it, but be worthy of it, and if you rise to a higher station, do not forget to show charity to others. (Introduction)"

These stories are all quite different from what passes as "Christmas Stories" in this modern, privileged, post-Christian, materialist age.  In general, the characters realize there is some deficiency in an upcoming Christmas - but rather than bemoan their fate or cry out about things being unfair, they go to work to remedy the situation.  In some cases, this is done directly by efforts they make; in others, their generous spirit enables others to find the Christmas spirit that they have lost and in so finding, reward the protagonist in ways they could have never hoped.

What spills forth from these stories is kindness, other centeredness, generosity, initiative, hard work, and looking to one's self first before looking to others.  One cannot help but feel more generous and inspired after reading these stories (I certainly was).

The stories also provide a window in Christmas in 1860's and 1870's America.  A piece of fruit is often all that is initially available as a stocking stuffer or present.  New clothes (especially shoes) are also coveted but less available; new toys or other items even less so.  I remember my mother telling me stories of how, within her lifetime, an orange was perhaps the gift one got in their stocking; our "loaded up" version of Christmas is a quite recent development.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

For all of the "adapted by" notices, the editor's hand seems very light indeed.  The stories, at least to my reading, resound with the voice of the authoress.  The lessons they teach - kindness and other centeredness and generosity yes, but also individual effort and virtue - seem sorely lacking in so many of what passes for today's Christmas entertainment.  These stories are written in such a way as to be accessible to children but are not childish (as so much of Christmas has become); they are suitable for all ages.  And, every story has a happy ending, which while not being as true as it should be in real life, is something I love.

It is not often I can say I left a book feeling more virtuous and that I should be more generous.  The fact that I found a book full of such stories is even more remarkable - such stories that should be read not just at Christmas but throughout the year so that we, as was said of Dickens' Scrooge, might keep Christmas every day in our heart.