Other editions of book A Country Christmas

Ms. Alcott’s protaganist in this story is Sophie. She lives in a big city with her guardian, but she’s feeling the pressure to make a decision about marriage. She needs some time to get away and think. She decides to travel to Vermont and visit Aunt Plumy and Aunt Plumy’s two grown children, Saul and Ruth. They live on a modest farm and life is much slower there.Sophie asks permission and is allowed to invite two city friends to come up and visit for Christmas. Sophie wants to show them “a real old-fashioned frolic” as it’s done in the country.

Aunt Plumy was in the great kitchen making pies; a jolly old soul, with a face as ruddy as a winter apple, a cheery voice, and the kindest heart that ever beat under a gingham gown. Pretty Ruth was chopping the mince, and singing so gaily as she worked that the four-and-twenty immortal blackbirds could not have put more music into a pie than she did. Saul was piling wood into the big oven, and Sophie paused a moment on the threshold to look at him, for she always enjoyed the sight of this stalwart cousin, whom she likened to a Norse viking, with his fair hair and beard, keen blue eyes, and six feet of manly height, with shoulders that looked broad and strong enough to bear any burden. His back was toward her, but he saw her first, and turned his flushed face to meet her, with the sudden lighting up it always showed when she approached. "I've done it, Aunt; and now I want Saul to post the letter, so we can get a speedy answer." "Just as soon as I can hitch up, cousin;" and Saul pitched in his last log, looking ready to put a girdle round the earth in less than forty minutes.