Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 
The Last Gift 
The Christmas Stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930) was one of the most popular American writers at the turn of the twentieth century, and her annual Christmas stories appeared in magazines and periodicals across the globe. Since then, the extraordinary stories that once delighted her legions of fans every festive season have gone largely out of print and unread. Now, for the first time,
The Last Gift presents a collection of Freeman’s best Christmas writing, introducing these funny, poignant, provocative, and surprisingly timely holiday tales to a new generation of readers.

About the author

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.