In a shab­by New York flat, Del­la sobs as she counts the few coins she has saved to buy a Christ­mas present for her hus­band, Jim. A gift wor­thy of her devo­tion will require a great sac­ri­fice: sell­ing her long, beau­ti­ful hair. Jim, mean­while, has made a sac­ri­fice for Del­la that is no less dif­fi­cult. As they exchange gifts on Christ­mas Eve, the dis­cov­ery of what each has done fills them with despair, until they real­ize that the true gifts of Christ­mas can be found more read­i­ly in their hum­ble apart­ment than in any fine store. O. Hen­ry paints a mas­ter­ly por­trait of unfal­ter­ing love, a haven from the harsh world out­side. The poignan­cy of his sto­ry is cap­tured in P.J. Lynch’s elo­quent art, where­in every glance, every ges­ture, tells a sub­tle truth.

2008