William S. Porter
"O. Henry" (1862-1910)

Born: 11 September 1862

Died: 5 June 1910 (cirrhosis of the liver)

                                                       

Birthplace: Greensboro, North Carolina

Best known as:American short story writer

Name at birth: William Sydney Porter

O. Henry was the pseudonym of William Sydney Porter, who wrote colorful short stories with surprising and ironic twists. His best-known titles included "The Last of the Troubadours," "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Ransom of Red Chief." Porter grew up in North Carolina, but moved to Texas in the 1880s. He worked as a draftsman, a bookkeeper, a bank teller and a newspaper columnist until 1898, when he was sent to prison for embezzlement (from his days as a teller in Austin). After more than three years in jail, O. Henry moved to New York to work full time as a writer. His short stories were masterworks of careful plotting and surprise endings: in The Ransom of Red Chief, for instance, a kidnapped tyke is so much trouble that the kidnappers end up paying the boy's father to take him back. O. Henry's work appeared in magazines and journals across the country and were collected in such books as Cabbages and Kings (1904), Heart of the West (1907) and The Voice of the City (1908). No stranger to alcohol and plagued by ill health, he died broke at the age of 47.

My Expectations

I started reading The Last Leaf with great expectations, because I have  read O'Henry before and all of his stories are real masterpieces. So, by the time I ended this short story, I realised that it is also a wonderful one. 

It was difficult to predict what the story would be about, as the title is thought provoking. However, I had some ideas that it would be connected with a despair or hope. And as it turned out  it demonstrates the power of hope and belief.

The Last Leaf is an impeccable story. The author not only shows simplicity but grace through the plot. The characters are briefly described but play majors roles in this book. I fell in love with the plot. Henry writes a tale of romance and sickness through a leaf, the last leaf remaining on a tree outside the main characters house. I truly recommend if you like emotional, simple and sweet stories.