Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City

A Mildred Budge Christmas Story

By: Daphne Simpkins

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

“Don’t you ever want to run away from Christmas?” Mildred Budge’s answer to Dixie was immediate and truthful. “Yes, yes, yes,” Mildred said with conviction.

She couldn’t stop saying yes, though the very idea that a good church lady would want to run away from the occasion during the year that marked the birth of Jesus-- the reason for the season for a tried and true church lady of the South-- was almost beyond explanation.

“Then, let’s go. Let’s go to Fountain City and find Mr. Fixit and eat sublime pies,” her friend Dixie urged. The two needed Mr. Fixit because of a recently bought vintage music box that would not play. They can’t hear the song, and the angels on top can’t fly. The problem feels urgent.

By the time Mildred and Dixie find Mr. Fixit and sample pies at the shop next door, the two runaways from Christmas find themselves right at home in Fountain City and more comfortable with who they are. If you are looking for an uplifting story that reminds you of the reason for the season after all, you’ll surely enjoy this newest short adventure of Mildred Budge and her new friend Dixie, a woman whose multiple personalities encourages readers to enjoy the dimensions of personhood that can’t be labeled and which often respond to beauty and shared joy.

If you don’t love Christmas and especially if you do, grab a copy of this charming Christmas story today. You’ll be smiling by the time Mildred asks Dixie, “Are you ready to go home?” And you’ll want to go with them.

More about Mildred Budge…. This story is an intermission between the larger novels featuring Mildred Budge and friends. It fits companionably with the two other sets of shorter adventures: Miss Budge in Love and The Mission of Mildred Budge.
Currently, there are four full-length novel in the Mildred Budge primary series. They are:
Mildred Budge in Cloverdale
Mildred Budge in Embankment
The Bride's Room
Kingdom Come

There is a spin-off series featuring Mildred Budge's friends.
Belle: A Mildred Budge Friendship Story
A Gentle and Lowly Christmas

About the author: While Daphne Simpkins is currently engaged in writing about church life in the South with her Mildred Budge stories, she has also written non-fiction books about caregiving and cooking. To find out more about her books, follow her on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, Facebook, or Linkedin.com. Contact her: [e-mail]

Mildred and Trixie

Mildred's gracious and tender treatment of Trixie is an inspiration to all of us. how many of us try to avoid the awkward and needy people in our lives. Mildred shows how much we will gain in becoming part of
their lives and how God will bless the relationship.

The personality of Dixie

I hated the AI voice. I lost much of the humor. It really was a disappointment to hear the narration and I nearly quit several times.

Mildred Budge & her community are fun to follow

I am posting this same review for each of 10 related books. In the course of a few weeks in early 2026, I listened to all of Daphne Simpkins’ Mildred Budge books. Like many before me, I fell in love with main character Mildred. There is much I recognized from my own experience in the stories. I was born in Alabama (AL), & lived 57 of my 64 years in the South (AL & Tennessee). My mother lived in Mongomery’s old Cloverdale neighborhood a few years, so the setting was familiar. The “church lady” stereotype struck me as a bit dated or too extreme at times, but there is much truth in it. The material is funny, practical, & very accurate as far as human nature. It portrays a church community living out faith, shares the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; & what it’s like to have the Christian experience over the long haul of life, to be convicted & grow as a Christian, & to have the Holy Spirit in your ear.

There are three series featuring the same character (primary, short adventures, friends/friendship). The “primary” four are continuous stories that follow in order from first to last. The short adventures & friends/friendship ones fit around/before/during/after the time frames of the “primary” four. Some of the same events overlap, but titles across the three series do not fully follow each other sequentially, including if you read from oldest to last by original publication date. It is obvious where some would fall, but debatable where to place others. If you want to go everywhere Mildred does, you want to consume all titles as much in order as possible. There are numerous Internet references that list the books in order (not all the same). Here is the order I recommend - (1) Miss Budge in Love, (2) Mildred Budge in Cloverdale, (3) The Mission of Mildred Budge: Short Stories About Church Life in the South, (4), Mildred Budge in Embankment, (5) Belle, (6) Bride’s Room, (7) Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City, (8) Kingdom Come, & (9) A Gentle & Lowly Christmas. Christmas in Fountain City can go anywhere near the beginning, but works best before Mildred Budge in Embankment. It makes no mention of main character Mildred Budge, but lays groundwork for when she & Dixie go there later, & refers to an earlier different Christmas than the one where Mildred Budge visits.

At the close of A Gentle & Lowly Christmas, there is plenty of story for the cast of characters that could still be told IF the author chooses to produce more!

I purchased the main four in large print hard copy paperback to donate to the local Sellersburg, IN library near me. I know plenty of ladies from age 60s into 90s who would very much enjoy them. The author herself helped me to find these through Amazon, as they were not obviously available when I searched. It was a pleasure to correspond with her via electronic mail.

I always prefer authors reading their own works, but most non author narrators on Audible are good. These books were my first Audible experience with artificial intelligence (AI)/virtual narration. I AM NOT A FAN! It was dismal to me. Despite loving the first book & falling in love with the main character, I considered not listening to any more due to the this factor alone. Though it was was generally annoying, I forged ahead due to my affinity for the material, & because the titles were available as part of my membership without costing credits or extra funds. There were mulitiple AI voices - young to middle aged sounding women (black & white) & two males, at least one of which was black. The best fit for narrator would be a white female, aged 60+, from the deep South/with a clear natural Southern accent (such as Fannie Flagg or me!) & familiarity with lingo. It would also be more pleasant to the listener to have the same voice do all titles in the series. The cadence was off. “Breaths” were taken/pauses occurred at wrong places. Emphasis was not always on the correct syllable. Pronunciation was often incorrect. I called Audible & complained & was told my input was being noted. I contacted the author in case she had input into the process & was not aware of how her work sounded. She explained that she had agreed to participate in a program to implement & develop the use of AI/virtual narration with Audible.