The Birthday Gift is a novel written by Samuel G. Goodrich and originally published in 1845. The story follows the life of a young girl named Mary Howard, who is given a special gift on her birthday that changes her life forever. The gift is a small, silver key that unlocks a mysterious chest in her father's study. Inside the chest, Mary finds a diary written by her mother, who died when Mary was just a baby. As Mary reads through the diary, she learns...