“from The First Chapter Until The Surprising Ending, Readers Are Drawn Into A Life In Another Time.””

Kathy Widener is author of 2 historical novels based on her family’s early years in Lexington County. She recommends you read “The Gift of the Magi” and almost anything else by prolific writer O. Henry at Christmas this year. It’s a great story to read to your children and grandchildren.

Author William Sydney Porter, pen name O. Henry, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1862. It was a most turbulent time for all America.

Being born in the South and in the particular circumstances of his birth, Porter left school at age 15 and went to work in his uncle’s drug store. At age 20, he went to Texas, worked on a ranch, then as a bank clerk in Austin.

He began to write short sketches, some of which were printed in a newspaper, the Detroit Free Press.

He had finally found his calling. Some would say wealth was and is most important even today, but never to Porter or his characters. He wrote in the language of common people.

He became a columnist for a Houston newspaper until fate intervened.

Short stories

When Porter began his writing career he found short stories more to his liking and in his lifetime produced over 250 works of fiction that would be read worldwide.

He was masterful in his natural understanding of the plight of the lower classes.

He could twist his stories into the most amazing and surprising of endings.

His plots were so masterful in the way he used his own experiences to write and entertain his audience.

His endings were always sharp, ironic and unexpected.

In 1896, he was charged with fraud and called back to Austin, where he had been a bank clerk, to stand trial.

He might have been pardoned because of sloppy bookkeeping but instead fled the country for Honduras, only returning when his wife was on her deathbed.

He was sent to prison for 3 years. During his incarceration, he continued writing short stories under different pen names. His stories now included associates and soldiers of fortune he encountered during the two years he spent in Central America. Criminals and unsavory characters became some of the most well-known of his characters, people who faced coincidence of fate, like the author himself.

I believe as an author of two books myself, it is best to write about characters and life styles you yourself are most familiar with. Reading about O. Henry’s life and characters reminds me of my own writing journey.

I can so relate to his stories because of the time period that he writes about and the people. The one difference that stands out is that my characters were country people, not city dwellers, but real people and a product of their southern roots and hard times.

Porter could sympathize with the lower and middle classes and set most of his stories in New York City. He wanted to give voice and description to characters that had no voice, those overlooked in high society as uninteresting and of no consequence. To Porter they had stories worth telling.

Most of his stories were humorous, sentimental and not philosophically deep. It was common folk he was interested in writing about.

A Christmas

story

His famous story, “The Gift of the Magi”, is my favorite Christmas story.

It was written in 1905 after Porter was freed from prison and had returned to his home of New York City.

It deals with the same sort of characters, a young couple, no money, living in New York, very much in love. It takes place on Christmas Eve.

Della wants desperately to buy something special for her husband Jim but she has only $1.87 when she counts out her pennies.

With Jim at work, she thought desperately of how she could possibly buy him something special with the meager money available.

Then she sees her reflection in the glass and the beautiful, wavy auburn tresses of her hair. Her beautiful hair was indeed her crowning glory, to both her and Jim. That is when an idea came to mind – an idea that evolves into a special surprise and ironic ending.

Irony and humor

O. Henry’s short stories are all definitely worth the time and are entertaining.

Irony and humor make his most notable characters still relevant today.

He died in New York City in 1910 but his stories are still entertaining readers.

Eventually his short stories would be read and enjoyed all over the world.

There is a bit of irony to me in the fact O. Henry died in 1910, the year my first novel begins.

“The Gift of the Magi & Other Stories” is available on Amazon and other online retailers.

“From the first chapter until the surprising ending, readers are drawn into a life in another time.”