The familiar plot and characters of A Christmas Carol resound in Appalachian Ebeneezer, but the story takes place in an American context with some additional subplots and character details, described here.

Framing Device: The Christmas tale about Scrooge is told to a cynical young filcher, Dink, who is caught in the act of stealing and chased into a camp of hobos. They shelter the boy and Loomis decides to tell him a tale. Dink’s experience with the story shows him the effects of his own chronic scamming and stealing on his community. The story works on Dink over time, and like Scrooge, he finds his redemption at the end.

Marley: In life he was a coal mine owner; in eternity, he’s a tortured soul forced to revisit wrongs inflicted on the miners, the mountain people, and the land.

Christmas Past reveals that young Scrooge, rescued from an abusive father, is adopted by a farming family. Silas and Frankie Duff are pillars of the farming community and host the annual Christmas gatherings (Fezziwigs); Scrooge grows up with their daughter Saro, and they come to love each other and revel in the beauty of their mountain home. Ambitious for a better future, Scrooge takes a desk job with the mining company. Saro accuses him of forsaking all that he loves to chase after riches. Subsequent episodes follow these two lives through a mine explosion and the tragic conclusion of Act I.

Christmas Present: The mountain community celebrates Christmas joyfully with the bare essentials, handmade and homegrown. At least as farmers they have the essentials — food, shelter, family, friendship and community — which their city relatives are at risk of losing during the chaos of the Depression. Knowing that their beloved Paradise Holler is key to their survival, they collaborate to find ways to hold on to their land. They also dance, play games, and crack jokes — many at Scrooge’s expense.

Christmas Future: Like Marley, Scrooge visits the graveyard he’s created and finds himself in it — as Silas, Saro, and the elders uncover a betrayal that threatens to destroy Paradise Holler and strip the farms, forest and streams away from them all.

Redemption: Scrooge wakes with joy and seeks redemption in his community. He reconciles with Dink, reunites with family, and reclaims his deep reverence for nature and the values he abandoned as a youth.

(Photos by Owen Carey)