Young Lucretia and Other Stories

Young Lucretia and Other Stories is a collection of thirteen short stories by Mary Wilkins Freeman. Young Lucretia Raymond lives with her strict Aunts Lucretia and Maria. During Christmastime, Lucretia is invited by the other schoolchildren to trim the Christmas tree at the schoolhouse in preparation for the Christmas celebrations. When she expresses her aunt’s predicted disapproval and refusal to let her participate in the trimming, the other girls insult her aunts, calling them “mean” and “stingy”.