Historical Christmas Novel Set in 1915 Newport | Christmas on Catherine Street

Christmas on Catherine Street is a historically grounded work of narrative nonfiction set in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1915—a year when a ten-year-old girl begins to understand that the Spirit of Christmas is not a holiday at all, but a way of living. As a historical Christmas novel set in 1915 Newport, the story draws directly from real family history and the lived experiences of the Cottrell family. Petie Cottrell is simply growing up: watching her mother keep a household steady through hardship, watching her father struggle quietly against illness, and watching her sisters face fear, recovery, scrutiny, and change. Month by month, as the seasons turn, Petie begins to notice something adults rarely say aloud and children rarely understand until they have lived through it: the deepest truths are not taught in speeches. They are taught in practice. Set against the real streets, ferry crossings, and winter winds of early twentieth-century Newport, this is a story of dignity, endurance, and love that does not possess. In the final chapter, Petie finally understands what her mother has lived all year: Christmas was not a feeling. It was the strong shielding the vulnerable.