Oh! But she was a tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within her froze her old features, nipped her pointed nose, shrivelled her cheek, stiffened her gait; made her eyes red, her thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in her grating voice. A frosty rime was on her head, and on her eyebrows, and her wiry chin. She carried her own low temperature always about with her; she iced her office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. Follow the adventures of Eglantine Scrooge as she discovers the true meaning of Christmas, in this transconceived edition of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. This work of literature has been transconceived. What this means is that all the male characters from the original have been changed into female characters, and vice versa. None of the things they say and do have been changed, and neither have their roles and situations in the society of the time. If you are familiar with the original work, or with the time period in which it is set, you may need to adjust your mind frequently as you read, to accept and adapt to the altered gender roles. You may find this experience delightful or disconcerting. But I invite you and your family to transconceive this work of literature with me, and share your experience. And you can find out more about the project at www.transconceive.com.