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Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner
Prissy's Uncle Richard and her father haven't exchanged words in eight years since a property dispute created hard feeling. When Prissy overhears Uncle Richard saying he has to travel for work on New Years' day, she resolves to sneak into his house and cook him a proper holiday dinner. Uncle Richard returns early and catches Prissy in the act. Can Prissy's kind gesture be the beginning of a reconciliation between the brothers?
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About the author
L.M. Montgomery
1,984 books13.4k followersLucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian author, best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908.
Montgomery was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911. She had three children and wrote close to a dozen books while she was living in the Leaskdale Manse before the family moved to Norval, Ontario in 1926. She died in Toronto April 24, 1942 and was buried at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.
Montgomery was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911. She had three children and wrote close to a dozen books while she was living in the Leaskdale Manse before the family moved to Norval, Ontario in 1926. She died in Toronto April 24, 1942 and was buried at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 14, 2024
I must say that for me personally, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1910 Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner (which is one of the Montgomery penned Christmas themed short stories included in the edited by the late Rea Wilmshurst Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories) has ever since I first read Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner been quite a bit too close theme and content wise to one of Montgomery’s short stories in her Chronicles of Avonlea collection, to The End of a Quarrel.
For indeed, in both Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner and in The End of a Quarrel, a long standing alienation and animosity is made to vanish by the protagonists sneaking into a house and creating a meal, being caught in the act, and this then all leading to a a cessation of the decades old animosities, of in Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner a family feud and in The End of a Quarrel of a decades long lovers’ estrangement being ended, sweet and engagingly enough shown for sure, but indeed, with the two tales’ totally obvious similarities also taking a bit of the shine off of my potential reading pleasure. Because well, combined with the fact that I do feel as though Lucy Maud Montgomery just uses a very similar and repetitive, standard blueprint for both tales, for both Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner and The End of a Quarrel, I also do tend to find the entire storyline of in The End of a Quarrel Nancy Rogerson sneaking into her former beau Peter Wright’s house and in Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner Prissy Baker sneaking into her Uncle Richard’s abode to clandestinely prepare a meal for them, and that this action (and after both protagonists are discovered and caught out) totally and utterly clears up ALL of the decades long anger, resentment and animosity (while of course sweet and a satisfyingly delightful ending) also both a bit hard to believe and equally a trifle uncomfortable (as I do rather have to wonder at Prissy and Nancy sneaking into those houses and that their behaviour is not really even once considered as being something not all together positive, but as basically kind of an act of trespassing at best, even if for non problematic, for positive and reconciliatory reasons).
For indeed, in both Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner and in The End of a Quarrel, a long standing alienation and animosity is made to vanish by the protagonists sneaking into a house and creating a meal, being caught in the act, and this then all leading to a a cessation of the decades old animosities, of in Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner a family feud and in The End of a Quarrel of a decades long lovers’ estrangement being ended, sweet and engagingly enough shown for sure, but indeed, with the two tales’ totally obvious similarities also taking a bit of the shine off of my potential reading pleasure. Because well, combined with the fact that I do feel as though Lucy Maud Montgomery just uses a very similar and repetitive, standard blueprint for both tales, for both Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner and The End of a Quarrel, I also do tend to find the entire storyline of in The End of a Quarrel Nancy Rogerson sneaking into her former beau Peter Wright’s house and in Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner Prissy Baker sneaking into her Uncle Richard’s abode to clandestinely prepare a meal for them, and that this action (and after both protagonists are discovered and caught out) totally and utterly clears up ALL of the decades long anger, resentment and animosity (while of course sweet and a satisfyingly delightful ending) also both a bit hard to believe and equally a trifle uncomfortable (as I do rather have to wonder at Prissy and Nancy sneaking into those houses and that their behaviour is not really even once considered as being something not all together positive, but as basically kind of an act of trespassing at best, even if for non problematic, for positive and reconciliatory reasons).
December 6, 2021
4 stars & 4/10 hearts. Montgomery evidently liked this type of story, and she does it well. This one reminds me more of Nancy & Peter’s story in “Chronicles of Avonlea” than “The End of the Young Family Feud” and other similar stories in these short story collections. I quite enjoyed it. Prissy is sweet and Uncle Richard isn’t awful. ;)
September 29, 2020
A heart-warming story about a girl who makes peace between her father and uncle.
December 12, 2024
It's such a fun, cute short story about fixing old mistakes
March 19, 2021
Sometimes a small act of kindness is enough to vanquish years of pain and misery.
June 28, 2025
Not bad - an estranged niece overhears her Uncle saying he would be having a cold dinner, so she goes to his house while he's away and cooks his meal, but he gets home earlier than she expects and catches her, and the estrangement is ended.
June 9, 2019
cute and very LMMontgomery like.
November 8, 2020
A touching holiday story about reconciliation. I plan to read it to my nephews and nieces when they are old enough to appreciate its values - the importance of family, humility and forgiveness.
January 1, 2021
Challenge: Twelve Days of Christmas - 9 Ladies Dancing/Female protagonist (4). A niece brings her uncle back into the family fold; brothers are reunited. Heartwarming; published 1910/2008.
July 11, 2021
That first step into reconciliation... so hard.. much avoided, as much as it's longed for... it takes a child, indeed, it often takes a child.. Beautiful story.
December 31, 2021
A classic and perfect short read, to pick and end this year, and ring in the new😍
December 19, 2022
Che tenero
January 1, 2023
So cute
January 18, 2024
Quick read and soul nourishing!
January 2, 2026
aww cute
February 19, 2026
To be perfectly honest, I expected a little more from the outstanding Lucy Maud Montgomery, since her novels are among the very best of the early 1900s. “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is short, sweet, and sincere — but also lacking in any kind of humor, sentiment, or real cleverness. It’s harmless and heartfelt, but that’s about it.
Seventeen-year-old Prissy Baker has not spoken to her Uncle Richard in eight years, after he and her father Irving had a fierce disagreement over land ownership. However, at Oscar Miller’s store on New Year’s morning, Prissy overhears Richard telling the storekeeper that he will be working late and coming home to a cold, lonely dinner that night, and she decides to sneak into his house and anonymously fix dinner for him in a gesture of thoughtfulness. What she does not expect is for Richard to get home early and find her setting his dinner out, and even more so she does not expect for her kindness to be the bridge that allows Richard and Irving to reconcile.
“Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is one of those stories that deals with the age-old problem of family troubles around the holiday season. Most of the time, we see authors choosing Christmas as a setting for family reconciliations, but L.M. Montgomery allows New Year's Day, that holiday that represents new perspectives and fresh starts, to be the backdrop for this story. Montgomery leaves us a few subtle nuances beyond the basic storyline itself — Prissy’s love of reading, Richard’s inherent fault in the brothers’ quarrel, the loss of so many other family members, the friendship between Prissy and some of Richard’s neighbors — and ends her story touchingly, with Prissy’s kindness inspiring Richard to finally let go of his pride and bring the family back together in the new year. It’s very Montgomery-ish to have hospitality and sincerity as the catalyst for change. Of course, we don’t get to find out if Irving is equally inspired to reunite the family, but it’s not his story and Montgomery leaves us enough clues to suspect that he probably will.
Still, the problem with “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is that there isn’t any depth beyond the obvious. We know to expect Uncle Richard to change his mind about the quarrel when he sees Prissy’s selfless gesture, but we also expect something extra to happen, something that will make the story memorable and surprise us in some way. It’s too predictable and brief to have a lasting impact — at the very least, it would have been interesting to see the Baker brothers reuniting, or have a little more tension with Uncle Richard discovering that Prissy broke into his house, or maybe some extra reason why Richard’s change of heart seems dramatic.
Nevertheless, “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is heartwarming and touches on how difficult it can be to overcome one’s pride and make amends after so many years of anger. Montgomery is a very talented writer, and I wish she had utilized that talent just a little more to make this short story more memorable.
Link to “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” on American Literature
Seventeen-year-old Prissy Baker has not spoken to her Uncle Richard in eight years, after he and her father Irving had a fierce disagreement over land ownership. However, at Oscar Miller’s store on New Year’s morning, Prissy overhears Richard telling the storekeeper that he will be working late and coming home to a cold, lonely dinner that night, and she decides to sneak into his house and anonymously fix dinner for him in a gesture of thoughtfulness. What she does not expect is for Richard to get home early and find her setting his dinner out, and even more so she does not expect for her kindness to be the bridge that allows Richard and Irving to reconcile.
“Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is one of those stories that deals with the age-old problem of family troubles around the holiday season. Most of the time, we see authors choosing Christmas as a setting for family reconciliations, but L.M. Montgomery allows New Year's Day, that holiday that represents new perspectives and fresh starts, to be the backdrop for this story. Montgomery leaves us a few subtle nuances beyond the basic storyline itself — Prissy’s love of reading, Richard’s inherent fault in the brothers’ quarrel, the loss of so many other family members, the friendship between Prissy and some of Richard’s neighbors — and ends her story touchingly, with Prissy’s kindness inspiring Richard to finally let go of his pride and bring the family back together in the new year. It’s very Montgomery-ish to have hospitality and sincerity as the catalyst for change. Of course, we don’t get to find out if Irving is equally inspired to reunite the family, but it’s not his story and Montgomery leaves us enough clues to suspect that he probably will.
Still, the problem with “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is that there isn’t any depth beyond the obvious. We know to expect Uncle Richard to change his mind about the quarrel when he sees Prissy’s selfless gesture, but we also expect something extra to happen, something that will make the story memorable and surprise us in some way. It’s too predictable and brief to have a lasting impact — at the very least, it would have been interesting to see the Baker brothers reuniting, or have a little more tension with Uncle Richard discovering that Prissy broke into his house, or maybe some extra reason why Richard’s change of heart seems dramatic.
Nevertheless, “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” is heartwarming and touches on how difficult it can be to overcome one’s pride and make amends after so many years of anger. Montgomery is a very talented writer, and I wish she had utilized that talent just a little more to make this short story more memorable.
Link to “Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner” on American Literature
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews