E. B. White echoes Siddons鈥� 鈥淐hristmas Country鈥� in his own essay on holiday displacement, 鈥淲hat Do Our Hearts Treasure?,鈥� which appears in 鈥淓ssays of E.B. White,鈥� a survey of his best work. White, who died in 1985, spent much of his life at the Maine farm he shared with his wife Katharine, a revered fiction editor for The New Yorker. The Whites loved Maine, which inspired E.B. White鈥檚 classic children鈥檚 stories such as 鈥淐harlotte鈥檚 Web鈥� and 鈥淭he Trumpet of the Swan.鈥�
But as they aged, the Whites sometimes tried to escape Maine鈥檚 harsh winters by renting a place in Florida. 鈥淲hat Do Our Hearts Treasure?鈥� details the emotional displacement the couple suffered during one yuletide among tropical palms. All seems lost until a package arrives from up North bearing, among other things, a branch from a balsam fir. In a small Christmas parcel, the Whites find their home once again.
I can鈥檛 read White鈥檚 essay without a little lump in the throat and I鈥檓 delighted that the essay and the book are still in print.
