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Christmas at Red Butte
In Christmas at Red Butte, Theodora, the jolliest, bravest girl of sixteen in all Saskatchewan pawns a precious locket so she can afford to buy toys for the poor family that has kindly taken her in after her own parents died. A heartwarming Christmas story for all generations by Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maud Montgomery.
11 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 7, 1909
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199 people want to read
About the author
L.M. Montgomery
1,861 books13.2k 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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January 2, 2020
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27
A short tale in which a small sacrifice by one brings joy and confirmation that Santa always delivers no matter the year’s losses or gains. That joy proves that it is always better to give than to receive.
(I’m always amazed at how little money is received in exchange for a precious memento, yet how much can be bought and given with the same money.)
Read online here: https://americanliterature.com/author...
A short tale in which a small sacrifice by one brings joy and confirmation that Santa always delivers no matter the year’s losses or gains. That joy proves that it is always better to give than to receive.
(I’m always amazed at how little money is received in exchange for a precious memento, yet how much can be bought and given with the same money.)
Read online here: https://americanliterature.com/author...
December 24, 2025
I adore L. M. Montgomery’s stories more than I’ll ever be able to express. They are the warm cup of tea you wrap your cold hands around after a long winter’s day, or the cool glass of water you hold to your hot skin after a long day in the sun.
Until this month, December 2025, I’d only read her novels. I’ve been wanting to read her shorter works for quite a while now, so it feels like such a treat to finally do so.
Until this month, December 2025, I’d only read her novels. I’ve been wanting to read her shorter works for quite a while now, so it feels like such a treat to finally do so.
November 1, 2019
Learning English through public domain text + Librivox audio. A heart touching story about a widow and her orphaned niece who are in financial troubles and are doing their best to buy Christmas presents for the 3 family's children.
January 15, 2024
Years ago, my parents used to tell me of the Christmases they each experienced as children. My mum was part of a large working family, not very well off, but proud and diligent. My dad had two brothers, and their family was working class to lower middle class, but with aspirations (they were very keen to let everyone know they had a maid!) They would each have a stocking to hang up on Christmas Eve, and in my Mum’s case, she and her four siblings would put them over the range in the living room, where all the food was cooked. I think Dad and his two brothers hung theirs at the bottom of their beds.
At any rate, they would agree, they would always leave a cup of cocoa, and a biscuit or mince pie out for Santa Claus overnight on Christmas Eve. If times were good he might get a bit of fruit cake and a bit of cheese (a Yorkshire tradition, to be eaten together). Thrillingly, Santa never let them down. He would always leave the dregs of the cocoa, plus a few crumbs on the plate. And even better, he rewarded them by filling their stockings.
Each child would get an apple and an orange, a few nuts and sweets, and a toy, or a game, or a book. And this was cause for great excitement. Of course they would all play with each other’s toys, and have arguments, but Christmas was mostly about family. It was the only time of the year when all those working (and this would be almost everyone over the age of 14) would have a holiday. A time then for celebration. Church, of course, plus carol-singing round the neighbours and family, special food, and plenty of games such as hide and seek, pin the tail on the donkey, blind man’s buff, charades, and pencil and paper games.
A simple, fun-filled Christmas, for those who were not poverty-stricken, but also not very well off. My own Christmas a generation later, was recognisably similar, although we each had a pillow case with lots of presents! Still, family was key and the focus was on interacting with each other.
People who have heard about or remember Christmases like these, will be able to relate well to Christmas at Red Butte. L.M. Montgomery’s short story was published in 1909. My mother was born just ten years later, and was the youngest of her family, so the Martin family in the tale are almost contemporaneous.
The difference is that the family in the story are poor. Very poor. The aunt in the tale has tried to protect the children from knowing this, whether considered a wise move or not, and so the children are in blissful ignorance, except for the viewpoint character Theodora. We are in for a very moving tale. It begins with a heart-stabbing touch of pathos:
“Of course Santa Claus will come,” said Jimmy Martin confidently”
and we are reeled in by the innocent conviction of this ten year old boy. We see that Theodora, at sixteen, is the only one out of the four children who sees life as it really is.
“They had been very happy until Uncle George’s death two years before this Christmas Eve; but since then there had been hard times in the little log house, and though Mrs. Martin and Theodora did their best, it was a woefully hard task to make both ends meet, especially this year when their crops had been poor.”
We settle right into the story, just as Theodora has settled the children, to tell them a story about the recent Riel Rebellion of 1885. The children listen wide-eyed, to hear the events of the failed Indian uprising by the Métis people under Louis Riel, against the English speaking settlers who were settling on their land. This war, so local to them, in which the First Nations Cree and Assiniboine fought against the Canadian Government, was both “true and exciting”, and distracts them from all other thoughts.
We switch suddenly from Theodora’s thoughts to the author as a narrator, so that we can be told a little about the family’s background:
“I am afraid that you will think from all the sighing Theodora was doing that she was a very melancholy and despondent young lady. You couldn’t think anything more unlike the real Theodora. She was the jolliest, bravest girl of sixteen in all Saskatchewan, as her shining brown eyes and rosy, dimpled cheeks would have told you; and her sighs were not on her own account, but simply for fear the children were going to be disappointed. She knew that they would be almost heartbroken if Santa Claus did not come, and that this would hurt the patient hardworking little mother more than all else.”
The entire story is written in this way. It is bright, with a fair dollop of exaggeration and hyperbole, reflecting the adults’ determined optimism. Theodora was an orphan, and had been given a home by her aunt Elizabeth and Uncle George, alongside their own children Jimmy and the younger twins. She misses her mother and brother Donald very much:
“Donald—handsome, merry, impulsive, warmhearted Donald, who had gone away four years ago with a smile on his bonny face and splendid hope in his heart.”
For Donald too is now missing from her life. He had fallen victim to so-called “Klondike fever”, the almost crazy prospecting for gold between 1896 and 1899, and was missing, feared dead.
As we see what Theodora is about to do, our feelings of sympathy for this family’s plight begin to grow. We see in our mind’s eye the little log cabin at Red Butte, more than a century ago; we see the frigid wind-swept plains of Saskatchewan, and the “prairie, red-lighted by the declining sun of the short wintry afternoon”, the day now fading as the moonlight increases, and we fear for her.
We watch the action, with our hearts in our mouths. But this is L.M. Montgomery, the author of many an uplifting tale, so we have no need to fear.
“she was hurrying along the trail in the moonlight. The great dazzling prairie was around her, the mystery and splendour of the northern night all about her. It was very calm and cold, but Theodora walked so briskly that she kept warm.”
Theodora succeeds in her plan, . And the best Christmas present of all is yet to come.
Yes, this story is sentimental and formulaeic. The main character has to be an orphan. The family has to be poor. The aunt has to be almost swindled out of the money she gets for selling their only horse. The main character has to only have one precious memento of her own, It is contrived, and manipulates our emotions mercilessly. So why do we love it? For I think we do. I was in tears.
The answer, I believe lies in the quality of the writing. Lucy Maud Montgomery was a prolific Canadian author in the earliest years of the 20th century, with more than 500 short stories, poems, and novels to her name. Just a year earlier, in 1908, her crowning achievement, the hugely popular “Anne of Green Gables” had been published. Its sequel “Anne of Avonlea” followed a little later, and was followed by six more novels featuring the character of Anne.
And everyone fell in love with Anne. Lucy Maud Montgomery (who was called “Maud” at home) knew how to tap into reality, and people’s feelings. Her own mother had died of tuberculosis when she was only 21 months old, so perhaps that had informed her yearning and commitment to a happy, stable family life. She had three children of her own, yet by the late 1930s, due to personal troubles, illness and depression, she had stopped writing, even though she lived until 1942.
The language she uses here in this early tale is simple, lively and bright; words such as “plucky”, and “ripping” and expression such as “don’t you worry a mite” casual and down to earth enough for us to be thrust into the midst of this family. And nowadays, of course for us to feel part of that earlier century too.
I would recommend this as a good quick read at this time of year for anyone, young teens to adults, or for reading to a younger child. The smile of delight at the end will make it worth your while. It is a cosy, charming tale, demonstrating love, compassion, sacrifice, family values, giving, and humanity. It really captures the spirit of the season. As the author herself said:
“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
At any rate, they would agree, they would always leave a cup of cocoa, and a biscuit or mince pie out for Santa Claus overnight on Christmas Eve. If times were good he might get a bit of fruit cake and a bit of cheese (a Yorkshire tradition, to be eaten together). Thrillingly, Santa never let them down. He would always leave the dregs of the cocoa, plus a few crumbs on the plate. And even better, he rewarded them by filling their stockings.
Each child would get an apple and an orange, a few nuts and sweets, and a toy, or a game, or a book. And this was cause for great excitement. Of course they would all play with each other’s toys, and have arguments, but Christmas was mostly about family. It was the only time of the year when all those working (and this would be almost everyone over the age of 14) would have a holiday. A time then for celebration. Church, of course, plus carol-singing round the neighbours and family, special food, and plenty of games such as hide and seek, pin the tail on the donkey, blind man’s buff, charades, and pencil and paper games.
A simple, fun-filled Christmas, for those who were not poverty-stricken, but also not very well off. My own Christmas a generation later, was recognisably similar, although we each had a pillow case with lots of presents! Still, family was key and the focus was on interacting with each other.
People who have heard about or remember Christmases like these, will be able to relate well to Christmas at Red Butte. L.M. Montgomery’s short story was published in 1909. My mother was born just ten years later, and was the youngest of her family, so the Martin family in the tale are almost contemporaneous.
The difference is that the family in the story are poor. Very poor. The aunt in the tale has tried to protect the children from knowing this, whether considered a wise move or not, and so the children are in blissful ignorance, except for the viewpoint character Theodora. We are in for a very moving tale. It begins with a heart-stabbing touch of pathos:
“Of course Santa Claus will come,” said Jimmy Martin confidently”
and we are reeled in by the innocent conviction of this ten year old boy. We see that Theodora, at sixteen, is the only one out of the four children who sees life as it really is.
“They had been very happy until Uncle George’s death two years before this Christmas Eve; but since then there had been hard times in the little log house, and though Mrs. Martin and Theodora did their best, it was a woefully hard task to make both ends meet, especially this year when their crops had been poor.”
We settle right into the story, just as Theodora has settled the children, to tell them a story about the recent Riel Rebellion of 1885. The children listen wide-eyed, to hear the events of the failed Indian uprising by the Métis people under Louis Riel, against the English speaking settlers who were settling on their land. This war, so local to them, in which the First Nations Cree and Assiniboine fought against the Canadian Government, was both “true and exciting”, and distracts them from all other thoughts.
We switch suddenly from Theodora’s thoughts to the author as a narrator, so that we can be told a little about the family’s background:
“I am afraid that you will think from all the sighing Theodora was doing that she was a very melancholy and despondent young lady. You couldn’t think anything more unlike the real Theodora. She was the jolliest, bravest girl of sixteen in all Saskatchewan, as her shining brown eyes and rosy, dimpled cheeks would have told you; and her sighs were not on her own account, but simply for fear the children were going to be disappointed. She knew that they would be almost heartbroken if Santa Claus did not come, and that this would hurt the patient hardworking little mother more than all else.”
The entire story is written in this way. It is bright, with a fair dollop of exaggeration and hyperbole, reflecting the adults’ determined optimism. Theodora was an orphan, and had been given a home by her aunt Elizabeth and Uncle George, alongside their own children Jimmy and the younger twins. She misses her mother and brother Donald very much:
“Donald—handsome, merry, impulsive, warmhearted Donald, who had gone away four years ago with a smile on his bonny face and splendid hope in his heart.”
For Donald too is now missing from her life. He had fallen victim to so-called “Klondike fever”, the almost crazy prospecting for gold between 1896 and 1899, and was missing, feared dead.
As we see what Theodora is about to do, our feelings of sympathy for this family’s plight begin to grow. We see in our mind’s eye the little log cabin at Red Butte, more than a century ago; we see the frigid wind-swept plains of Saskatchewan, and the “prairie, red-lighted by the declining sun of the short wintry afternoon”, the day now fading as the moonlight increases, and we fear for her.
We watch the action, with our hearts in our mouths. But this is L.M. Montgomery, the author of many an uplifting tale, so we have no need to fear.
“she was hurrying along the trail in the moonlight. The great dazzling prairie was around her, the mystery and splendour of the northern night all about her. It was very calm and cold, but Theodora walked so briskly that she kept warm.”
Theodora succeeds in her plan, . And the best Christmas present of all is yet to come.
Yes, this story is sentimental and formulaeic. The main character has to be an orphan. The family has to be poor. The aunt has to be almost swindled out of the money she gets for selling their only horse. The main character has to only have one precious memento of her own, It is contrived, and manipulates our emotions mercilessly. So why do we love it? For I think we do. I was in tears.
The answer, I believe lies in the quality of the writing. Lucy Maud Montgomery was a prolific Canadian author in the earliest years of the 20th century, with more than 500 short stories, poems, and novels to her name. Just a year earlier, in 1908, her crowning achievement, the hugely popular “Anne of Green Gables” had been published. Its sequel “Anne of Avonlea” followed a little later, and was followed by six more novels featuring the character of Anne.
And everyone fell in love with Anne. Lucy Maud Montgomery (who was called “Maud” at home) knew how to tap into reality, and people’s feelings. Her own mother had died of tuberculosis when she was only 21 months old, so perhaps that had informed her yearning and commitment to a happy, stable family life. She had three children of her own, yet by the late 1930s, due to personal troubles, illness and depression, she had stopped writing, even though she lived until 1942.
The language she uses here in this early tale is simple, lively and bright; words such as “plucky”, and “ripping” and expression such as “don’t you worry a mite” casual and down to earth enough for us to be thrust into the midst of this family. And nowadays, of course for us to feel part of that earlier century too.
I would recommend this as a good quick read at this time of year for anyone, young teens to adults, or for reading to a younger child. The smile of delight at the end will make it worth your while. It is a cosy, charming tale, demonstrating love, compassion, sacrifice, family values, giving, and humanity. It really captures the spirit of the season. As the author herself said:
“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
December 28, 2018
Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, considered in terms of worldwide name recognition and popularity, is probably the principal jewel in her country's literary crown. While she's best known for her masterpiece, Anne of Green Gables, and its numerous sequels, she wrote literally hundreds of short works, both in poetry and prose, many of which have fallen into obscurity. This short story, first published in 1909, is an example of the latter, and the only one of her writings that I've actually read, outside of the first two novels in the Anne of Green Gables series. Normally, I read pre-Internet era short stories in book-length paper collections, and review the whole collection at once, rather than reviewing the stories separately. In this case, however, I read this tale online as a free-standing e-story, for a seasonal common read in one of my Goodreads groups.
Set on the Saskatchewan prairie in the late 1890s (the days of the Klondike gold rush), this is a fairly linear, straightforward and simple story, observing all of the classical unities, and written in serviceable prose that would not pose any problem for modern readers. (It has one twist; I was able to guess it ahead of time, but possibly some readers won't.) Our protagonist and viewpoint character is 16-year-old Theodora Prentice (the story itself, however, is not necessarily just geared to YA readers, though it has no content issues that would be problematic for that group). She's an orphan being reared in her aunt's farm home; but now her uncle has also died, and it's not easy for a widowed woman and a teen girl to eke out a living on a cold-climate farm with 19th-century technology. Crops were poor this year, and on Christmas Eve, the prospects of much of a Christmas for the three young kids in the family, all ten years old or younger (who approach the holiday with the boundless faith that some children have in Santa Claus) don't look too encouraging. This sets the stage for a morally-significant decision on Theodora's part, which forms the core of the story.
Montgomery was a Realist, and writes in the fashion of the Realist era. Realism, though, is not to be confused with existential pessimism or a jaundiced view of human moral possibilities, neither of which characterize her work, nor this story in particular. Nothing in the tale is not realistically possible, and the author takes seriously the facts of poverty and premature loss of loved ones and breadwinners (a reality that, in that day of relatively short life spans for many people, children and teens had to cope with more often than they do today). But she reminds us that family is important, that some humans can and do make self-sacrificial choices for others that are worth making, and that sometimes good things do happen to good people. Some critics might fault her for the major role of what they would call "coincidence" in the plot here. But viewing it from a theistic perspective (which Montgomery shared, as her other writings make clear), I saw that as an operation of Divine providence, a view that I think she would encourage. (I've known, and experienced, real-life events where "coincidence" played no less constructive a role.) If her picture of reality concentrates more on its brighter aspects and less on its tragic ones, and if she portrays human goodness rather than human evil, it's not less realistic nor less worthwhile for that.
Much more could be said about the story, but because of time constraints I'll refrain. For a more in-depth review, written by my Goodreads friend Jean with her characteristic thoroughness and insight, see this link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...? .
Despite the fact that Canada is a contiguous country that shares a border of almost 4,000 miles with the U.S. "lower 48," and despite having had and still having a number of Canadian friends over the years, I'm very poorly read in Canadian literature. This story is a reminder that it has gems to offer that would repay much closer examination!
Set on the Saskatchewan prairie in the late 1890s (the days of the Klondike gold rush), this is a fairly linear, straightforward and simple story, observing all of the classical unities, and written in serviceable prose that would not pose any problem for modern readers. (It has one twist; I was able to guess it ahead of time, but possibly some readers won't.) Our protagonist and viewpoint character is 16-year-old Theodora Prentice (the story itself, however, is not necessarily just geared to YA readers, though it has no content issues that would be problematic for that group). She's an orphan being reared in her aunt's farm home; but now her uncle has also died, and it's not easy for a widowed woman and a teen girl to eke out a living on a cold-climate farm with 19th-century technology. Crops were poor this year, and on Christmas Eve, the prospects of much of a Christmas for the three young kids in the family, all ten years old or younger (who approach the holiday with the boundless faith that some children have in Santa Claus) don't look too encouraging. This sets the stage for a morally-significant decision on Theodora's part, which forms the core of the story.
Montgomery was a Realist, and writes in the fashion of the Realist era. Realism, though, is not to be confused with existential pessimism or a jaundiced view of human moral possibilities, neither of which characterize her work, nor this story in particular. Nothing in the tale is not realistically possible, and the author takes seriously the facts of poverty and premature loss of loved ones and breadwinners (a reality that, in that day of relatively short life spans for many people, children and teens had to cope with more often than they do today). But she reminds us that family is important, that some humans can and do make self-sacrificial choices for others that are worth making, and that sometimes good things do happen to good people. Some critics might fault her for the major role of what they would call "coincidence" in the plot here. But viewing it from a theistic perspective (which Montgomery shared, as her other writings make clear), I saw that as an operation of Divine providence, a view that I think she would encourage. (I've known, and experienced, real-life events where "coincidence" played no less constructive a role.) If her picture of reality concentrates more on its brighter aspects and less on its tragic ones, and if she portrays human goodness rather than human evil, it's not less realistic nor less worthwhile for that.
Much more could be said about the story, but because of time constraints I'll refrain. For a more in-depth review, written by my Goodreads friend Jean with her characteristic thoroughness and insight, see this link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...? .
Despite the fact that Canada is a contiguous country that shares a border of almost 4,000 miles with the U.S. "lower 48," and despite having had and still having a number of Canadian friends over the years, I'm very poorly read in Canadian literature. This story is a reminder that it has gems to offer that would repay much closer examination!
December 24, 2018
A sweet, if predictable, story for the Christmas season. Exactly what you would expect from Montgomery...the world the way we wish it were.
After a very meaningful discussion with The Breakfast Club, I have come back to raise my rating by one star. This went from a story I "liked" to one I truly appreciated.
After a very meaningful discussion with The Breakfast Club, I have come back to raise my rating by one star. This went from a story I "liked" to one I truly appreciated.
January 15, 2024
Quite obviously predictable perhaps, and yes also with some rather major encountered so-called preachiness, but to tell the truth L.M. Montgomery’s Christmas at Red Butte (one of her, one of Montgomery’s short stories set in rural Saskatchewan and which I originally read in the Rea Wilmshurt edited and in many ways utterly delightful Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories) has nevertheless ever since I first read Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories been a personal favourite, a delightful little Christmas-themed story gem which is permanently on my yearly Christmas season reading list and which every time I do reread Christmas at Red Butte also makes me both tear up and smile, does make me oh so very much glad that Theodora goes to town to purchase gifts and a turkey to make Christmas merry and bright for her aunt and young cousins, and yes, that the sacrifice of Theodora’s special locket ends up having such a redeemingly positive, even if saccharinely sweet reward and outcome.
Because indeed, even though Christmas at Red Butte is like with the majority of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Christmas based tales a bit heavy-handed with its message that sacrificing something special and dear to one’s heart (like Theodora does when she treks on foot into town on Christmas Eve to sell her beloved locket and purchase necessary Christmas gifts and holiday foodstuffs for her aunt’s family) is something positive and also as such good if not even necessary to be emulated, the sweetness of Montgomery’s printed words, combined with relatable, likeable characters, all of which is then framed by simply wonderful and evocative descriptions of both a prairie winter’s harshness and beauty, for me, Christmas at Red Butte is absolutely delightful and enchanting and a truly lovely holiday reading experience to be highly recommended (but even more so, I concurrently also and of course totally recommend Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories because Christmas at Red Butte is of course not the only Lucy Maud Montgomery Christmas story that is a sweet and tenderly lovely reading treat).
Because indeed, even though Christmas at Red Butte is like with the majority of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Christmas based tales a bit heavy-handed with its message that sacrificing something special and dear to one’s heart (like Theodora does when she treks on foot into town on Christmas Eve to sell her beloved locket and purchase necessary Christmas gifts and holiday foodstuffs for her aunt’s family) is something positive and also as such good if not even necessary to be emulated, the sweetness of Montgomery’s printed words, combined with relatable, likeable characters, all of which is then framed by simply wonderful and evocative descriptions of both a prairie winter’s harshness and beauty, for me, Christmas at Red Butte is absolutely delightful and enchanting and a truly lovely holiday reading experience to be highly recommended (but even more so, I concurrently also and of course totally recommend Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories because Christmas at Red Butte is of course not the only Lucy Maud Montgomery Christmas story that is a sweet and tenderly lovely reading treat).
December 1, 2018
Theodora is a young woman who loves her cousins very much. When she finds out that they might not have a Christmas, she goes and saves the day. Will her sacrifice be enough to make them happy? Read on and find out for yourself.
This was a wonderful Christmas short story of giving of others, sacrificing what you own to make others happy and more.
This story is available to read online here at this link:
https://americanliterature.com/author...
This was a wonderful Christmas short story of giving of others, sacrificing what you own to make others happy and more.
This story is available to read online here at this link:
https://americanliterature.com/author...
December 27, 2022
"Of course Santa Claus will come"
All hopes were on the sale of the colt.
Christmas Eve ended just fine.
What was thought to be a stranger turned out to be a blessing.
Gift o' God
A beautiful short story about things being tough and how hope and faith bring a happy ending.
All hopes were on the sale of the colt.
Christmas Eve ended just fine.
What was thought to be a stranger turned out to be a blessing.
Gift o' God
A beautiful short story about things being tough and how hope and faith bring a happy ending.
December 24, 2018
Sweet little Christmas short story, about love in all it's guises, the spirit of Christmas and family
December 15, 2018
"Christmas at Red Butte" is a heartwarming short story showing the Christmas spirit of love and generosity. Theodora sacrifices a treasured item to bring joy to her family who were going through hard financial times. The story was written in 1909 by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.
December 14, 2025
A pleasing little story, so glad it came across my home page. A feel-good Christmas story.
December 27, 2024
What a sweet short story! I especially loved the ending.
December 29, 2025
I just love these sweet stories.
December 25, 2020
I always think it is good to indulge in some holiday reading as we draw in towards Christmas day. I happened to have this one as one of my recommended titles for stories, and thought it sounded favorable based on reviews. L.M. Montgomery’s “Christmas at Red Butte” is a wonderful Christmas story, with the perfect mood and holiday spirit for reading during the holiday season.
The tale begins on Christmas Eve with young and hopeful Jimmy Martin excited and joyful about the prospects of Santa Claus arriving to the Martin home the next morning. His niece, sixteen-year-old Theodora, who lives with and supervises the Martin children, understands the reality, and tries to temper Jimmy’s expectations. For the truth of matter is that it has been an especially hard year for the Martin family and household, and Theodora and Mrs. Martin know in their heart of hearts that realistically the crops have been poor all year, and making ends meet has been a struggle with the financial woes the family has been hit with this season. There is a moment where Mrs. Martin finally breaks down and sobs, and admits that the children will be disappointed in the morning, and all hope seems to be lost…
I cannot go into any more particulars or details without the possibility of spoiling some of the surprise and wonder of this story, but there is a wonderful, touching, moment where one of the characters must face a question and choice of sacrifice.
I admit, I am a bit of a sucker for this kind of story, with a flair for a touch of the bittersweet and sentimental moments and atmosphere. “Christmas at Red Butte” has a heart-warming message and moral about giving up a part of yourself for the uplifting and betterment of others and has a moral about sacrifice and love. It reminded me quite a bit of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” in its themes. It would be a perfect story for parents to read to their children, and it has all the perfect make up of a story to be aloud while there is a fire going in the fireplace on a cold, wintry night during holiday season.
Now, I must excuse myself from this review and do some cleaning in this room. It seems there is a little too much dust in this room, and it was getting in my eyes as I was reading this story.
The tale begins on Christmas Eve with young and hopeful Jimmy Martin excited and joyful about the prospects of Santa Claus arriving to the Martin home the next morning. His niece, sixteen-year-old Theodora, who lives with and supervises the Martin children, understands the reality, and tries to temper Jimmy’s expectations. For the truth of matter is that it has been an especially hard year for the Martin family and household, and Theodora and Mrs. Martin know in their heart of hearts that realistically the crops have been poor all year, and making ends meet has been a struggle with the financial woes the family has been hit with this season. There is a moment where Mrs. Martin finally breaks down and sobs, and admits that the children will be disappointed in the morning, and all hope seems to be lost…
I cannot go into any more particulars or details without the possibility of spoiling some of the surprise and wonder of this story, but there is a wonderful, touching, moment where one of the characters must face a question and choice of sacrifice.
I admit, I am a bit of a sucker for this kind of story, with a flair for a touch of the bittersweet and sentimental moments and atmosphere. “Christmas at Red Butte” has a heart-warming message and moral about giving up a part of yourself for the uplifting and betterment of others and has a moral about sacrifice and love. It reminded me quite a bit of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” in its themes. It would be a perfect story for parents to read to their children, and it has all the perfect make up of a story to be aloud while there is a fire going in the fireplace on a cold, wintry night during holiday season.
Now, I must excuse myself from this review and do some cleaning in this room. It seems there is a little too much dust in this room, and it was getting in my eyes as I was reading this story.
December 13, 2023
Such a sweet story -- just what I expected, and wanted, from L.M. Montgomery!!
November 25, 2018
From 1909 - 1922 collection of LM Montgomery . A Christmas reading treat features a log house Christmas Eve storytime on the Saskatchewan prairie and its surprise outcome.
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December 14, 2024
Of the 3 stories I read this morning from The Anne of Green Gables Christmas Collection this was my least favorite. Enjoyable but predictable. It didn't have the charm of A Christmas Inspiration or old fashioned coziness of A Christmas Mistake
December 21, 2024
Short, but delightful. This was truly so short that I run the risk of writing a review that's longer than the story. Still, I enjoyed my brief time with these characters and the way the author skillfully used what few words she had to communicate so much about who the characters were and what they'd been through, and then to instill hope where it had once been lost.
December 24, 2018
Providential in a very Christmas-like manner.
December 24, 2023
I love the writing of L. M. Montgomery. This short story is about Theodora, a young woman who sees a need at Christmas, a poor family with young children awaiting Santa's arrival, but their parents barely made their mortgage and simply have nothing left to spend on Christmas. Theodora sacrifices to give the young family a Merry Christmas and in her sacrifice receives a Christmas miracle of her own.
December 19, 2024
It started out so cheesy I expected to hate it, but it turned out okay.
December 30, 2025
Sweet but I wish Theodora got her locket back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2021
5 stars & 5/10 hearts. I love this little story! It’s so sweet and delightful and Christmassy. Theodora is just so sweet and I loved Donald too, and all the other characters. There were a couple mentions of Santa Claus but other than that it was pretty near perfect!
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “The next minute she was hurrying along the trail in the moonlight. The great dazzling prairie was around her, the mystery and splendour of the northern night all about her. It was very calm and cold.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “And then followed half an hour during which everybody talked at once, and the turkey would have been burned to a crisp had it not been for the presence of mind of Mr. Lurgan who, being the least excited of them all, took it out of the oven, and set it on the back of the stove.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “The next minute she was hurrying along the trail in the moonlight. The great dazzling prairie was around her, the mystery and splendour of the northern night all about her. It was very calm and cold.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “And then followed half an hour during which everybody talked at once, and the turkey would have been burned to a crisp had it not been for the presence of mind of Mr. Lurgan who, being the least excited of them all, took it out of the oven, and set it on the back of the stove.”
December 1, 2016
Lovely heartwarming Christmas story. Somehow I missed this one through the years but thanks to LibraVox, I listened to it this afternoon. Also, I checked and thankfully, it is part of my LMM Kindle collection so I can now read it every Christmas.
December 7, 2017
This was short and such a precious story. Very heartwarming for Christmas. But to be honest, I'm such a huge fan of L.M. Montgomery, she could write the instruction manual to a toaster oven, and I would give it 5 stars. Slightly obsessed! Definitely something to read again next Christmas.
December 20, 2020
Christmas at Red Butte by L.M. Montgomery is a short story that may feel familiar when you read it. It reminded me of The Gift of the Magi in a way. It's a sweet story that will warm your heart during the holidays.
December 7, 2022
I listened to this delightful short story by Lucy Maud Montgomery read by one of the bloggers I follow. I was enthralled! It reminded me very much of the "Little House on the Prairie" stories, especially the Christmas story when Mr. Edwards came to visit and brought sweet potatoes.
In this story, 16-year-old Theodora lives with her aunt, her nephew, and twin nieces on the Saskatchewan prairie. It is Christmas Eve and the little ones are very excited about Santa Claus coming. But after they go to bed and her aunt gets home from trying to sell their colt, Theodora knows there won't be any "Santa Claus" visit. However, she has a gold locket given to her from her brother four years prior, before he left to go hunt for gold in the Klondike. She hasn't heard from him in two years and the only word of his expedition is that he had died. If she sold the locket, there would be enough for a Merry Christmas for the children...
After listening to this story, I realized how woefully lacking was my childhood, in that I never read the Anne of Green Gables books. After this story, I plan on amending that problem as soon as possible!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND
In this story, 16-year-old Theodora lives with her aunt, her nephew, and twin nieces on the Saskatchewan prairie. It is Christmas Eve and the little ones are very excited about Santa Claus coming. But after they go to bed and her aunt gets home from trying to sell their colt, Theodora knows there won't be any "Santa Claus" visit. However, she has a gold locket given to her from her brother four years prior, before he left to go hunt for gold in the Klondike. She hasn't heard from him in two years and the only word of his expedition is that he had died. If she sold the locket, there would be enough for a Merry Christmas for the children...
After listening to this story, I realized how woefully lacking was my childhood, in that I never read the Anne of Green Gables books. After this story, I plan on amending that problem as soon as possible!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND
December 7, 2025
As Christmas gets closer, I like settling down with a cosy Christmas read, and Christmas at Red Butte turned out to be a lovely and reflective choice.
It’s a gentle, comforting story with that classic festive feeling that makes holiday reading so enjoyable. The atmosphere is warm, the emotions feel honest, and it captures the spirit of Christmas without trying too hard.
It highlights the idea of giving, caring for others. After the recent disastrous flooding in our country and everything people are facing right now, its message of kindness, sacrifice, and caring for others feels even more meaningful.
If you want something warm but really short for Christmas, this story is perfect.
It’s a gentle, comforting story with that classic festive feeling that makes holiday reading so enjoyable. The atmosphere is warm, the emotions feel honest, and it captures the spirit of Christmas without trying too hard.
It highlights the idea of giving, caring for others. After the recent disastrous flooding in our country and everything people are facing right now, its message of kindness, sacrifice, and caring for others feels even more meaningful.
If you want something warm but really short for Christmas, this story is perfect.
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