Project Gutenberg 2006-07-06 Public domain in the USA. 124 Francis, Samuel W. (Samuel Ward) 1835 1886 Francis, Samuel Ward Syntax, Samuel A Christmas Story Man in His Element: or, A New Way to Keep House Produced by Curtis Weyant, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) "A Christmas Story" by Samuel W. Francis is a humorous narrative published in the mid-19th century. This book blends elements of comedy and domestic life as it explores the themes of housekeeping and gender roles during a time when such responsibilities were traditionally assigned to women. The story revolves around the contrasts between a bachelor’s views and the challenges faced by a woman managing a household. The narrative follows two main characters, William d'Aubrey and his widowed sister, Mary. The plot begins with Mary expressing her frustration over the difficulties of managing the household and the unpredictable nature of their servants. In a playful agreement, William proposes to take over the housekeeping duties for a brief period, believing he can simplify their domestic life. As he implements his own methods, he finds humor in the peculiarities of servant dynamics and the domestic sphere, leading to a series of amusing interactions and revelations. The story ultimately examines the social expectations of the time, showcasing the absurdities of both male and female approaches to domestic management. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 78.4 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Short stories Siblings -- Fiction Housekeeping -- Fiction PS Text Christmas Category: Humour Category: Novels Category: British Literature 75724 2025-07-08T06:08:10.380089 text/html 73384 2006-07-08T07:29:26 text/html 104834 2025-07-08T06:08:15.277059 application/epub+zip 103146 2025-07-08T06:08:12.958135 application/epub+zip 86880 2025-07-08T06:08:11.948076 application/epub+zip 208130 2025-07-08T06:08:17.016032 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 197994 2025-07-08T06:08:14.672087 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 193007 2022-09-09T05:46:37.805139 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 67473 2025-07-08T06:08:10.113076 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 67501 2006-07-08T07:29:20 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 67493 2006-07-08T07:29:30 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 22126 2025-07-08T06:08:17.147037 application/rdf+xml 14378 2025-07-08T06:08:12.424086 image/jpeg 3699 2025-07-08T06:08:12.184059 image/jpeg 27136 2006-07-08T07:30:20 application/octet-stream application/zip 28666 2006-07-08T07:30:38 application/octet-stream application/zip 27120 2006-07-08T07:30:22 application/octet-stream application/zip 102452 2025-07-08T06:08:10.388089 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia