A Burglars Christmas

by Willa Cather

A Burglars Christmas by Willa Cather

Genres: Short Stories, Christmas, Classics, Fiction, Holiday, American, Audiobook

Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1896

About the author

Wilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.

She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.

After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.

Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.

She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.

She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

boilerplate mission statement intro:

for the past two years, i’ve set december’s project aside to do my own version of a short story advent calendar. it’s not a true advent calendar since i choose all the stories myself, but what it lacks in the ‘element of surprise’ department it more than makes up for in hassle, as i try to cram even MORE reading into a life already overcrammed with impossible personal goals (live up to your potential! find meaningful work! learn to knit!) merry merry wheee!

since i am already well behind in my *regular* reviewing, when it comes to these stories, whatever i poop out as far as reflections or impressions are going to be superficial and perfunctory at best. please do not weep for the great big hole my absented, much-vaunted critical insights are gonna leave in these daily review-spaces (and your hearts); i’ll try to drop shiny insights elsewhere in other reviews, and here, i will at least drop links to where you can read the stories yourselves for free, which - let’s be honest - is gonna serve you better anyway.

HAPPY READING, BOOKNERDS!

links to all stories read in previous years' calendars can be found at the end of these reviews, in case you are a person who likes to read stories for free:

2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

scroll down for links to this year’s stories which i will update as we go, and if you have any suggestions, send 'em my way! the only rules are: it must be available free online (links greatly appreciated), and it must be here on gr as its own thing so i can review it. thank you in advance!

DECEMBER 24

Yet he was but four and twenty, this man he looked even younger and he had a father some place down East who had been very proud of him once. Well, he had taken his life into his own hands, and this was what he had made of it. That was all there was to be said. He could remember the hopeful things they used to say about him at college in the old days, before he had cut away and begun to live by his wits, and he found courage to smile at them now. They had read him wrongly. He knew now that he never had the essentials of success, only the superficial agility that is often mistaken for it. He was tow without the tinder, and he had burnt himself out at other people's fires. He had helped other people to make it win, but he himself he had never touched an enterprise that had not failed eventually. Or, if it survived his connection with it, it left him behind.

this is a holiday-based prodigal son archetype story, whose first half hit me real close to home with all the woe and despair of an end-of-year self-reckoning when the year (or longer) has not gone very well at all.

and then it all gets sentimental and schmaltzy and MUST BE NICE&yadda.

i loved the first half.

it made me feel terrible when i was already in QUITE a mood. the second half... not so much. it actually made me feel worse, so kudos on writing something that provoked an emotional response, mizz cather, but i have been around the block a few too many times to feel uplifted by christmas miracles, and "hope" and "optimism" are as unrealistic to me as flying reindeer, so as far as the intended goal (presumed by me), of feel-gooderie and earthly rewards as a balm for suffering, not this year, willa claus.

I AM A FRIGGIN' DOWNER HO HO HO

sorry, kids. time to get into the xmas booze.

this story?

read it for yourself here:

https://americanliterature.com/author...

and may all your wishes come true.

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come to my blog!

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read this one here;

http://cather.unl.edu/ss031.html where Miss Cather used the pseudonym Elizabeth L. Seymour.

A beautifully written update to The Prodigal Son. Yes, the style is quite sentimental, but it is well written, very touching & brought tears to my eyes.

A perfect Christmas read.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this 1896 short story by Willa Cather, a down-on-his-luck young man is at the end of his rope financially and in spirit.

It is a tragic hour, that hour when we are finally driven to reckon with ourselves, when every avenue of mental distraction has been cut off and our own life and all its ineffaceable failures closes about us like the walls of that old torture chamber of the Inquisition. To-night, as this man stood stranded in the streets of the city, his hour came. It was not the first time he had been hungry and desperate and alone. But always before there had been some outlook, some chance ahead, some pleasure yet untasted that seemed worth the effort, some face that he fancied was, or would be, dear. But it was not so to-night.

He decides to rob a wealthy home, but gets more than he bargained for when he embarks on his new criminal career.



"The Burglar's Christmas" is definitely a sentimental tale, but it touched my heart. I liked the subtle tie-ins to the Biblical story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, and there are some literary references in the story - the Inquisition, the Dance of Death, and Childe Harold - and some character insights that raise this story above the norm for sweet, heartwarming tales.

Some interesting background notes: When this was originally published in 1896, Willa Cather was only 23. She originally used her cousin's name as a pseudonym for this tale. Some scholars think that Cather's own relationship with her mother is reflected in this tale, which would be a lovely thing.

December 2017 group read with the Retro Reads group. You can read this story free online here at the Willa Cather Archive.

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set on Christmas night, this is a variation of the return of the prodigal son from the Bible. A restless young man had left home to make his own way in the world, but did not succeed. On his return, he was meet with warmth and unconditional love from his mother. "The Burglar's Christmas" is one of Willa Cather's earliest stories, published under the name Elizabeth L Seymour. While it did have some convenient coincidences, it is a sweet tale with a good message for Christmas.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A newly minted burglar (the latest in a long line of failed career moves) finds a surprise in his latest victim's home and presence. . .and perhaps a new outlook on life.

A short, sweet story by W Cather. The holiday involved helps me tolerate the sweet, and a certain amount of suspension of disbelief.

3 stars - for that.

[ꕥ Ange_Lives_To_Read ꕥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas 2025 Naughty or Nice - okay

What it's about: A "prodigal son" retelling

What I thought: There wasn't much to it, but it was a nice short story about a son reaching rock bottom and, in a last act of desperation, sort of accidentally returning to the bosom of his loving family. In my experience lately there seems to be an epidemic of parents being estranged from their children, often for reasons they don't understand, so my reaction was more cynical than it might have otherwise been.

[Franky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened to stumble across this story as I was searching for Christmas stories for my Amazon Kindle. I am quite familiar with Willa Cather, but had never heard of this rare little Christmas tale, and so I decided to give this one a try. It did not disappoint.

Without trying to sound a little too schmaltzy or corny or Hallmark Card-y, I think one of the key messages to take from this little Christmas parable is that love changes everything.

The story opens on Christmas Eve with two shabby gentlemen who are clearly down on their luck and perhaps homeless talking about trying to find a bite to eat as the bear the frigid, busy Chicago night and it bustles by. Eventually the two make their way towards two distinct paths, and we follow one of the gentlemen who has a plan to turn thief in order to procure sustenance for the evening.

Cather establishes the feeling of isolation, desperation and loneliness of the man as he wanders towards his next path:
“To-night, as this man stood stranded in the streets of the city, his hour came. It was not the first time he had been hungry and desperate and alone. But always before there had been some outlook, some chance ahead, some pleasure yet untasted that seemed worth the effort, some face that he fancied was, or would be, dear. But it was not so to-night. The unyielding conviction was upon him that he had failed in everything, had outlived everything.”

There’s quite a bit I could get in to, but to do so would definitely get into spoilers. However, suffice to say that in his attempt to burgle, the young gentleman is met with quite a bit of a surprise and ironic twist.

I think in many ways this story represents a new telling of The Prodigal Son and is definitely a parable with a moral about forgiving one’s past sins and familial love. I think that the story also ties its moral to the notion that one can always start over in life, begin again with renewed hope, even when things look bleak, hopeless and unforgiving.

The Burglar’s Christmas is a very touching story that makes for a fine Christmas tale.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Good if you are in the mood for sentimental coincidence. I wasn't when I read it. Well written, but not my fav. 2 stars.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sweet Christmas story by Willa Cather.

Here follows a free online link: https://cather.unl.edu/writings/short...

Are you interested in talking about it? During December 2019, it will be discussed at the GR Reading for Pleasure Group here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

For me it is all about unconditional love. I like it. Well, sort of. It is weighed down by coincidence, but it is not this that bothers me. I need to know more. It seems unfinished to me. I wish Cather had developed it further, into a novel.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hunger is a powerful incentive to introspection.

This is a short, schmaltzy story that is nevertheless very touching. A reminder there is nothing quite like a mother's love.

[Anissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice Christmas-themed short story. I don't think I've read much (any?) Willa Cather so I can't say how this compares to her other work. That said, I did enjoy this. A young man who seems to have made all the wrong decisions has arrived at Christmas (also his birthday) homeless and hungry in Chicago. He makes a rash decision to enter an inviting house and steal and that's where this turns into an "Aww" kind of read. I won't spoil, but it very much fits the season and made me smile. In not-so-great, there is one use of a racial slur which tossed me out of the flow. It is one of those uses where the character was so casual in usage while being complimentary to who they were speaking about that it was a stark reminder of the time this was set.

Cather's writing was very engaging and I would happily read another. On a final note, this is a very weird cover for the story. It doesn't fit the period at all but I did get this very cheaply on Kindle.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Burglar’s Christmas is really a short story. I purchased it in my quest for a good Christmas read.

The story is a twist on the prodigal son parable from the Bible. A quick enjoyable, seasonal read.

[Terris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. Of course, I usually like Willa Cather quite a bit anyway ;)

[Lesle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas Eve there are two shabby men that are considering getting food from downtown after they have not eaten for days. Crawford (fake name) asked "How far?" he is too tired to walk. The other man goes off by himself. Crawford considers stealing the food as he cannot pay for it, but when a woman drops a parcel he gives it to her instead of running off with it. He is a failure. As he has failed at everything including being a thief. College, journalism, real estate, and performing. He walks into a house in an attempt to steal the jewelry and he is found by his mother Helen. She says she forgives him for everything he has not done and his father show no feelings... They have dinner and he feels warm again.

"Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen."

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story, in a Renard Press pamphlet supporting the Three Peas charity (in aid of Europe’s refugees) was sent to me as a Christmas card alternative. A young man wanders the slushy streets of Chicago one Christmas Eve. On this, his 24th birthday, he laments how low he has sunk that he has to rob the rich in order to get money to eat. But in this take on the Prodigal Son story, there is a second chance at forgiveness and a good life. I was reminded of the high society atmosphere of Edith Wharton’s work and the moral fables of O. Henry. The lovely little story has a William Morris design on the cover. I’ll keep it with my small collection of Christmas books and bring it out to reread in future years.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Christmas-themed short story by Willa Cather -- an author I've been meaning to read for several years. A wayward and destitute young man, reminiscent of the prodigal son from the New Testament, decides that his life is a complete failure. He has lost all hope. He is freezing and starving in Chicago on Christmas Day, which also happens to be his birthday, a coincidence that seriously irritated him as a child. In his despair and desperation, he decides to rob a fine, well-lit house that presents itself as an easy target. While carrying out his plan he makes a surprising discovery -- one that could lead him to hope, forgiveness, love, and family.

I'm glad I encountered this in my search for a good Christmas story during this time of year even though the theme of Christmas is only incidental to the story. The lesson it teaches of forgiveness and redemption is one that resonated deeply with me, having a son with similar problems and needs as this young man.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Burglar's Christmas is a short story by Willa Cather written in 1896. The beginning of the story is so sad. It begins with two "shabby" young men standing on a street corner of Chicago one cold Christmas Eve. They are watching carriages go by and sometimes the wheels threw the slush of mud and snow over the two young men talking on the corner. I was wondering why they didn't get back from the street and stand as far away from mud and snow as they could, but they didn't. The elder says they are at their rope's end, and asks the younger how he feels. The younger replies, pretty shaky, the wind is sharp and he hasn't had anything to eat. He's sick of the whole thing and says there is nothing left for him but the lake. The elder decides to go and try to get a free meal on the other side of the city, but our younger man just isn't up to it and says he will loaf around there. So they split up. And he turns and begins walking up the avenue, now he is thinking about himself. He has avoided thinking of himself and his final reckoning for a year, but now when everything that kept him from thinking of his situation are no longer there, drinking it off, laughing it off, now he must think of his life.

We're told it isn't the first time he had been hungry, desperate and alone, but before there had been some outlook, some chance, some pleasure to look toward that kept him going. But tonight he knows he had failed in everything. We are told this:

Yet he was but four and twenty, this man—he looked even younger—and he had a father some place down East who had been very proud of him once. Well, he had taken his life into his own hands, and this was what he had made of it. That was all there was to be said. He could remember the hopeful things they used to say about him at college in the old days, before he had cut away and begun to live by his wits, and he found courage to smile at them now. They had read him wrongly. He knew now that he never had the essentials of success, only the superficial agility that is often mistaken for it. He was tow without the tinder, and he had burnt himself out at other people's fires...... There had been a day when he thought otherwise; when he had said he was unjustly handled, that his failure was merely the lack of proper adjustment between himself and other men, that some day he would be recognized and it would all come right. But he knew better than that now, and he was still man enough to bear no grudge against any one—man or woman.

To-night was his birthday, too.

And he begins to think about those earlier birthdays as a child. He thought of ginger bread and frosted cakes, the splendid parties his mother gave him when all the other little boys came in their Sunday clothes. He thought of birthday cake, and stuffed olives, and how he would eat and eat then go to bed and dream of Santa Claus. Then later, the birthday suppers he had given at college, and the stag dinners, the toasts, the music, the good fellows wishing him happiness. But now all his thoughts good or bad revolved around food, around hunger. He had demanded great things once, fame, wealth and admiration. Now all he wants is bread. No matter what had happened he had never stolen anything, but tonight there would be no tomorrow if he didn't get something to eat. He found there was one more experience he had never had before, he had failed at everything else, now he would see if he could be a common thief. He could see adding that as one more thing he tried and failed, he labeled them all, "failure as a journalist", "failure as a lecturer," "failure as a business man," "failure as a thief," would be next.

And now a carriage drove up to the house near where he was standing, and several richly dressed women got out and went into the house. The front door was open and the servant had left it and gone with the guests. Why all these people went into the house on a cold December night and nobody bothered to close the door I don't know, but it gave our new thief to enter the house, make his way upstairs, enter a bedroom and....

If I tell you much more you won't have to read the story, it is short after all. He gets quite a surprise though. Here is where you can read it if you want, https://cather.unl.edu/writings/short.... And with that I am going to find my next Christmas read. Tis the season.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is interesting because of point of view. A burglar is caught in the act by his mother. He is shown nothing but love and pardon. The reader is taken into the mind of the thief to learn that the world’s indifference led him to crime and the world should not be able to help but love him like a mother.

[Anne (In Search of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sentimental story typical of its era. Made me cry! Reminiscent of the prodigal son.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've arranged my thoughts into a haiku:

"Youth's reckless follies
Beyond the home fires' light,
Do not put it out."

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Cather fan, but this didn't hit the right note for me.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a Beautiful story of grace.

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Have you wandered so far and paid such a bitter price for knowledge and not yet learned that love has nothing to do with pardon or forgiveness, that it only loves, and loves—and loves?"

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely little holiday tale; thanks for sharing, Sarah! 🥰

[Annika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dag 20 i min julnovellkalender.
Osannolikt julmirakel med tillhörande andäktig julmonolog.

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely story that reminded me of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

I read this for a Christmas in July challenge.

I really enjoyed this one! Watching the character reflect on his life and how he got to where he is was heartbreaking. The ending also tugged on my heartstrings– I won’t spoil it but it made me really happy. Overall, I’d recommend this one to fans of short holiday stories.

Rating: ⅘

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Possibly not available in print, but apparently it can be read at
http://cather.unl.edu/ss031.html

Too melodramatic, too many coincidences and the future (as well as the present) is left hanging. This story is a set-up for something more but doesn't go anywhere.

[Joseph Fountain · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review: http://100greatestnovelsofalltimeques...

[Dean McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE BURGLAR'S CHRISTMAS by Willa Cather -- Published in December 1896 in The Home Monthly magazine under the pen name Elizabeth L. Seymour, this is a heart-warming version of The Good Samaritan. Willie is a young man, full of promise an intention, who leaves home, only to fail miserably in all his endeavors: college, journalism real estate, performing and as a seaman. He is in Chicago on a cold, rainy, wintry Christmas night, not having eaten in three days, and suicidal. Following a rich young woman loaded down with presents, he decides to try his luck as a burglar. He enters her house and a vacant room, searches for jewelry and valuables. In the midst of his theft, the door opens and there stands his own mother. She sees and recognizes him and rejoices at his return, not at all moved by his confession of failures and theft. She only embraces him in welcome and unconditional love. The tale ends with a meal and welcome by his father. It is a short, sweet, heartwarming story, perhaps a bit sentimental, but a good Christmas read. Available as a free download, https://cather.unl.edu/writings/short...

[Hester · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good pick for Christmas , the return of the prodigal son without the loyal , hard working brother to add the piquancy . A young man from a well off background on the East Coast rejects his family for the lure of the Bohemian life but fails at everything he tries ending up penniless and starving on the streets of Chicago . In desperation her turns to burglary on impulse , thieving from a grand house, until he recognises a silver drinking cup as his own from childhood .

Unlike the biblical story, where the jealousy of the older brother provides the contrast to unconditional love and acceptance by the father ,here we have a mother who uses her own experience as a woman in a patriarchy to identify with the suffering of her son. We are both in this together she implies , and the only solution is love . No explanation needed .

I read this is an early work . I tend to think of Cather as a spare writer so its interesting to read a somewhat luscious piece .