Evenings at Donaldson Manor

A country house whose owner guards its location provides the setting for Maria J. McIntosh's collection of Christmas tales and verse. The narrator introduces Colonel Donaldson's American home with a playful account of his objections to attracting curious visitors. Around this household setting, the contents range across family relationships, work, courtship and moral choices, with songs and poems appearing beside stories. The book's holiday character rests on home life and shared reading.

One story follows Meeta and Ernest as they promise to marry before Ernest leaves America to study in Germany. A simple locket marks their attachment, while his later letters reveal a growing interest in his new surroundings and arrive less often. This attention to small gifts, family conversations and changing loyalties gives readers a view of nineteenth-century domestic fiction. The varied pieces also reflect the book's stated concern with duty, kindness and faith.