Pretty Literate's 2023 Winter Book Box

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year!

That time of year when the air is crisper, the warmth of firelight is welcoming, the scent of baked goodies is beckoning, and the love of family and friends is meant to be celebrated.

That time of year when love is in the air - love of nature, of family, of fellow man.

That time of year when a cozy blanket, a warm beverage, and a beloved book summon us to escape the hustle and bustle of the holiday, and to enjoy instead the simpler pleasures of life from simpler times.

Never has a classic embodied that spirit of the season more than inside the pages of Pretty Literate's featured classic inside our fourth and final Seasonal Book Box of 2023.

About the Author

Before sharing the author and title featured in our NEW Seasonal Book Box, here are a few facts about the author that I bet you didn't know. 

• The author was born on her father's birthday.
• The author grew up in a politically active family and even took part in the Underground Railroad by hiding fugitive slaves. (Psst! She also knew Frederick Douglass personally!)
• The author's father brushed elbows with noted authors including Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, though her family was not of the wealthy privileged.
• As a teen, the author worked a variety of odd jobs to help supplement her family's income that included teaching, sewing, and serving - similar to the main character in another of her novels that we read in PL's Monthly Book Club.
• As an adult, the author was an ardent suffragette. In fact, she was the first woman registered to vote in her home state!
• The author's writing was first published at age 19 under a pen name. She enjoyed writing gothic pulp fiction under a pen name, a true departure from the wholesome stories we associate with her given name, which she did not write under until she was 22.
• She served during the Civil War as a nurse, assisting the doctors who performed amputations and comforting dying soldiers.
• The author remained single, but cared for her niece (who was named after her) when her mother died only a month after giving birth. 
• The author passed away just two days after her beloved father.

About the Classic

Think you have a good idea who the author is that our fourth and final Seasonal Book Box features? Here are a few fun facts about the title to help you figure out which of her works we're spotlighting inside this year's Winter Book Box.

• The author's most famous work was written as a favor to her father. A publisher, wanting a "girl's book" to be written by the gothic pulp fiction author, offered her father a publishing contract if his daughter would write it. She consented to help her dearly loved Dad.
• Just four months after the author started writing this "girl's book," it was published and an instant best seller!
• The novel's main characters are based on the author's own family.
• The novel was originally two books, though it is now widely published as one. 
• This classic spurred two sequels.
• Since its publication in 1868, the classic has never been out of print.
• The classic is a seasonal favorite, though it is enjoyed by readers year round.

About the Book Box

Pretty Literate's fourth and final Seasonal Book Box celebrates one of America's most beloved authors with a beautiful edition of the author's most inspiring story. Artist Laci Fowler's distinctive handpainted cover art elevates the beloved classic, evoking a winter wonderland setting that is perfect this time of the year. The special decorative pages throughout this unique edition ensure that it will be the perfect gift for the book lover in your life. This eye-catching edition gives an instant upgrade to shelves, spreads joy to the readers in your life, and is destined to become a cherished addition to every home library.

Pitch-perfect for yuletide reading from its winter wonderland-themed cover to the top-notch treasures and treats, our fourth and final Seasonal Book Box of 2023 has been carefully curated to complement the spirit of the season and the love that we all share for the tight-knit family it is about, making it the ideal book box to kick off anyone's holiday - including yours!

Think you guessed it?

If you think you know which author and title featured in Pretty Literate's fourth and final Seasonal Book Box of 2023, find out if you were correct here.

If you're still scratching your head, you can put your mind at ease here.