author
Mary L. Bissell
A little-known 19th-century writer, she is remembered for a warm, bittersweet Christmas story about immigrant children, poverty, and hope. Her surviving work has the simple emotional pull of an old holiday tale meant to comfort as much as it moves.
1 Audiobook
Bertha Weisser's wish : A Christmas story
by Mary L. Bissell
About the author
Very little firmly documented biographical information about Mary L. Bissell is easy to confirm online. What can be confirmed is that she wrote Bertha Weisser's Wish: A Christmas Story, a juvenile novel first published in the United States by E. P. Dutton & Co. in 1863 and now preserved in the public domain through Project Gutenberg.
That book follows a young German girl in New York City caring for her siblings after hardship and loss, and it centers on Christmas, family duty, generosity, and hope. Modern catalog and bookseller records also suggest that this is the only widely circulating work currently attributed to her, which adds to her air of mystery.
Because so little reliable personal history is readily available, Mary L. Bissell is best approached through her writing itself: a small but memorable contribution to 19th-century children's literature, notable for its sympathy toward poor and immigrant families and for its earnest holiday spirit.