Mr Beasley's Christmas Party by Booth Tarkington

 A Literary Christmas Reading Challenge Review for the In the Bookcase blog.

This sweet, warm-hearted Christmas story will revive your spirits. Gentle and short, it is the perfect story to read during the holiday season. Unfortunately, it's marred by some racist language, noticeable today, but common when the story was written.

Set in the snowy Mid-West, the tale involves a young cub reporter sent to interview Mr Beasley, an up-and-coming politician, although a quiet and shy man. Our young reporter falls in love with Mr Beasley's house, not a beautiful one, but the kind in which he can imagine a happy family enjoying a traditional Christmas celebration. However, it's extremely early in the morning when he walks to his boarding house, and he hears Beasley calling out to someone, but there is no one there!

When he asks the people at his boarding house next door about this, they act oddly, and appear embarassed. The beautiful daughter of the owner is especially strange about Beasley. The reporter spies on Beasley as much as he can, and Beasley's actions just become odder. Is Beasley going mad? Surely not, because he remains incredibly popular in the town, and everyone speaks highly of him. What is the answer to this mystery?

I really liked Tarkington's engaging style, so I will read more of his books. He wrote in a relaxed, surprisingly modern way, and I especially liked his description of the daughter who probably fits the category of the Edwardian 'New Woman'. Alice Adams has been on my TBR list for a long time, and I also want to see the film, although I don't actually like Katherine Hepburn much.

I read this for Tarissa's A Literary Christmas Challenge for 2022 at the In the Bookcase blog.