Emmeline (Rossner novel)

Last updated
Emmeline
Emmeline.jpg
First edition
Author Judith Rossner
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date
1980
Media typePrint (Cloth; Paper)
Preceded byAttachments 
Followed by August  

Emmeline is a book by Judith Rossner. Published in 1980, Emmeline details the local legend of a woman who becomes ostracized by everyone in her hometown in Maine after a shocking, long-held secret becomes public. The story is a fictionalized account of the life of Emeline Bachelder Gurney. Both anecdotal and documented evidence have been found about Gurney's life. [1]

Contents

Filmmaker David Hoffman posted an interview from the 1970s with a Maine journalist named Nettie Mitchell (1886-1981), [2] who at age 89 spoke about having directly known Emeline Bachelder Gurney. [3]

An operatic version by Tobias Picker (libretto by J. D. McClatchy) premiered in 1996 as a commission of the Santa Fe Opera and has enjoyed considerable success. It has been recorded, televised on PBS, and produced in full-scale and chamber productions. [4]

Plot

In 1839, thirteen-year-old Emmeline Mosher lives on a farm with her family in Fayette, Maine. Times are hard, so when Emmeline's paternal aunt suggests that she go to Lowell, Massachusetts to support her family by working in a textile mill, Emmeline dutifully leaves home.

When she arrives in Lowell, she is sent to live in a boarding house for young female mill-workers. Emmeline is a good worker. However, she is unable to befriend any of the other girls (because of being a favorite of Mrs. Bass) who look down on her due to her country ways and her relative youth. The lonely young girl is easily seduced by the factory owner's daughter's Irish-born husband and becomes pregnant. She is not immediately aware of her condition, but others are: the mill expels her and the embarrassed boarding-house landlady contacts Emmeline's aunt, who lives in the neighboring town of Lynn, Massachusetts, and evicts the girl.

Fearful of Emmeline's parents' reaction, Emmeline's aunt and uncle help her conceal her pregnancy. They send letters and Emmeline's savings, which they pass off as her regular salary, to her parents. They also arrange to have Emmeline's baby adopted. Emmeline imagines she will have a girl, and gives birth to what she believes is a girl; her aunt refuses to let her see the child or even know its gender, believing that Emmeline can more easily give up the child and recuperate from her ordeal. Soon after giving birth, Emmeline returns to Maine.

Part two of the book picks up more than 20 years later. Despite numerous proposals, a middle-aged Emmeline has never married and cares for her parents, but her father still encourages her to marry. She has a circle of friends, socializing primarily with two sisters of a widower who proposes marriage to her. One day, itinerant worker Matthew Gurney rolls into town. He and Emmeline share a strong immediate attraction. Matthew proposes to her and Emmeline eagerly accepts. They marry, with Emmeline wearing her sister-in-law's wedding dress, and move into a house that they build themselves.

When Emmeline's aunt visits after the wedding, she instantly recognizes Matthew and forces him to admit that he is 21 years old, not 26 as he originally claimed. At that moment, Emmeline realizes that she gave birth to a boy, not a girl, and that she has married her son. Her aunt tells her father, who immediately disowns her. Word quickly spreads throughout town. Matthew deserts Emmeline, who is soon excommunicated by the preacher at her church and encouraged to leave town.

Emmeline spends the rest of her long life on the fringes of the town, ignored by all. She tries to subsist on what she can grow herself. Neglected as an old woman, she dies during a particularly harsh winter.

Reception

Emmeline received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews , which called it "A strange, in some ways difficult book--but a grave tale of lingering impact." [5] Chicago Tribune reviewer Susan Fromberg Schaeffer drew comparisons to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre , calling it "a novel of rare knowledge and great power, masterfully told." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Larcom</span> American journalist

Lucy Larcom was an American teacher, poet, and author. She was one of the first teachers at Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, teaching there from 1854 to 1862. During that time, she co-founded Rushlight Literary Magazine, a submission-based student literary magazine which is still published. From 1865 to 1873, she was the editor of the Boston-based Our Young Folks, which merged with St. Nicholas Magazine in 1874. In 1889, Larcom published one of the best-known accounts of New England childhood of her time, A New England Girlhood, commonly used as a reference in studying antebellum American childhood; the autobiographical text covers the early years of her life in Beverly Farms and Lowell, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Rossner</span> American novelist

Judith Rossner was an American novelist, best known for her acclaimed best sellers Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1975) and August (1983).

<i>The Witch of Blackbird Pond</i> Book by Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a children's novel by American author Elizabeth George Speare, published in 1958. The story takes place in late 17th-century New England. It won the Newbery Medal in 1959.

<i>Up a Road Slowly</i> 1966 novel by Irene Hunt

Up a Road Slowly is a 1966 coming-of-age novel by American writer Irene Hunt, which won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. This book is about a young child named Julie who grows from 7 to 17 years old with her aunt Cordelia and uncle Haskell in the country.

<i>Ramona Forever</i> Novel by Beverly Cleary

Ramona Forever is a humorous children's novel written by Beverly Cleary. The seventh book in the Ramona Quimby series, it continues the story of Ramona, her older sister, Beezus, and their family. They are finally old enough to stay home together, and they work hard to get along. Mrs. Quimby is expecting a baby and Aunt Bea gets engaged in a book that sees Ramona coping with growing up. It was originally published in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowell mill girls</span> Female workers who came to work for textile mills in Massachusetts

The Lowell mill girls were young female workers who came to work in textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The workers initially recruited by the corporations were daughters of New England farmers, typically between the ages of 15 and 35. By 1840, at the height of the Textile Revolution, the Lowell textile mills had recruited over 8,000 workers, with women making up nearly three-quarters of the mill workforce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marguerite Audoux</span> French novelist (1863–1937)

Marguerite Audoux was a French novelist.

<i>The Franchise Affair</i> (novel) 1948 mystery novel by Josephine Tey

The Franchise Affair is a mystery novel by Josephine Tey about the investigation of a mother and daughter accused of kidnapping a young woman visiting their area. It was published in the UK by Peter Davies Ltd in 1948 and in the USA by The Macmillan Company in 1949. While the book has maintained its reputation among readers of British genre fiction, and has often been adapted to other media, its social attitudes have been heavily criticised by more modern commentators.

<i>Burned</i> (Hopkins novel) Book by Ellen Hopkins

Burned is a young adult novel written by American author Ellen Hopkins and published in April 2006. Like all of Ellen Hopkin's works, the novel is unusual for its free verse format.

<i>Emmeline</i> (opera) Opera by Tobias Picker

Emmeline is an opera in two acts composed by American Tobias Picker with a libretto by J. D. McClatchy. Picker's first opera, it was commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera company and premiered in 1996. Based on Judith Rossner's novel of the same name, Emmeline is an American retelling of the Oedipus myth from the mother’s viewpoint.

<i>Olivia</i> (Rossner novel)

Olivia is the penultimate novel by Judith Rossner, author of the critically acclaimed best sellers Looking for Mr. Goodbar and August. Published in 1994 by Crown, Olivia examines "a mother-daughter conflict set in the world of gastronomy." ,

Susan Fromberg Schaeffer was an American novelist and poet who was a Professor of English at Brooklyn College for more than thirty years. She won numerous national writing awards and contributed book reviews for The New York Times.

<i>Dead Beautiful</i> 2010 novel by Yvonne Woon

Dead Beautiful is a young adult urban fantasy novel by American author Yvonne Woon. The story follows Renée Winters, an orphan who is sent to a mysterious Gottfried academy. While enrolled, Renée discovers a series of enigmas, most surrounding her school, her boyfriend, and eventually herself. The novel was released to critical acclaim in 2010, with a sequel, Life Eternal, following in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Hanson Robinson</span> American suffragist (1825–1911)

Harriet Jane Hanson Robinson worked as a bobbin doffer in a Massachusetts cotton mill and was involved in a turnout, became a poet and author, and played an important role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States.

Betsey Guppy Chamberlain (1797–1886) was a textile mill worker who wrote sketches and poetry that were published in The Lowell Offering. Her co-worker, Harriet Hanson Robinson claimed that Chamberlain "had inherited Indian blood" and some sources claim she was Native American; however, there is little identifiable evidence to support the claim. Some of her writing in the Lowell Offering protests the treatment of Native people by the U.S. government.

The New England Offering was a collection of journal entries that were written by female mill workers in New England mills. Many of the women who were contributing to the magazine were working in mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. The “Lowell Offering” was a collection of narratives where women shared their works in a intellectual and cultural publication. The contributors took great pride in the magazine. The “Lowell Offering” gained a great deal amount of popularity. It was read by famous writers such as Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and George Sand. The “Lowell Offering” lost momentum after the opinions of the writers moved towards areas that mill owners did not agree with. The “New England Offering” was established after controversy with the Lowell Offering erupted and the editors Harriet Farley and Harriott F. Curtis had to discontinue the “Lowell Offering” and start a new magazine. The magazine's first issue appeared in September 1847, and Farley ended publication with the March 1850 issue.

<i>A Candle in Her Room</i> Book by Ruth M. Arthur

A Candle in Her Room is a 1966 children's book written by Ruth M. Arthur, illustrated by Margery Gill and published by Atheneum Books. The book - set in Pembrokeshire, Wales - explores the effect of a bewitched doll on multiple generations of young women.

Harriot F. Curtis was an American writer and journalist.

Emeline Bachelder Gurney (1816–1897) was a woman from Fayette, Maine, who was shunned by her family and community. Emeline gained notoriety after death, with her life story inspiring a documentary, then a book and a play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sybella Gurney</span>

Sybella Gurney was a housing reformer and leader of the co-partnership and cooperative housing movement, who 'made important and largely unrecognized contributions to British community design theory and practice'.

References

  1. Sins Of Our Mothers (subscription required), American Experience documentary, 1989, reviewed in the New York Times, 1989-01-17. Webpage found 2010-03-12.
  2. O'Connor, John J. (17 January 1989). "Reviews/Television: New England Tragedy". The New York Times.
  3. Old Lady Reveals The SIN She Witnessed In The 1890s In Rural Maine Webpage found 2022-04-06
  4. "Tragic legend returns to public TV, retold this time as an opera", Current , July 22, 1996.
  5. "Emmeline by Judith Rossner" (review), Kirkus Reviews , September 1, 1980.
  6. Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, "Rossner's parable portrays women as avenging furies", Chicago Tribune , September 21, 1980.