Review of A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote

A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote is a collection of three stories, two of which are autobiographical. ‘A Christmas Memory’ is about a young boy and his sixty-year-old friend, Sook, who decide to make fruitcakes to send out to friends and family. Then on Christmas, they give each other kites that they had made. ‘One Christmas’ features the same speaker going to his father’s house in New Orleans for Christmas. The boy doesn’t want to go and when he arrives, learns that Santa isn’t real upon seeing his father set out the presents. He then begs his father for a plane he saw earlier in his visit, so his completely drunk father buys the expensive gift and sends the boy off to return to Alabama. The final story, ‘The Thanksgiving Visitor’ is about the same boy being bullied by another boy, Odd Henderson, and when he tells Sook, she invites Odd Henderson to their Thanksgiving dinner. When Odd arrives and the speaker sees him take Sook’s brooch, he accuses Odd of stealing. Though, his plan goes awry and Sook covers for Odd. The boy, angered by what Sook had said, runs off to their barn, where she eventually joins and comforts him.
 
Capote captures the childlike feelings of nostalgia and conflict in this collection. Each story is rooted in time and place and has this feeling of bittersweetness. There’s love exuding in the relationship between the boy and Sook, fractured at times, but always repaired. It’s succinct, and understands the tenderness of childhood.
 
Final Rating: 5/5