Emmeline (book)
Encyclopedia
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 exist proving that Gurney and her story were real. An operatic version
by Tobias Picker
(libretto by J. D. McClatchy) premiered in 1996 and has enjoyed considerable success. It has been recorded and televised.
. Times are hard so when Emmeline's paternal aunt
suggests that she go to Lowell, Massachusetts
to support her family by working in the factories 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 who look down on her due to her country ways and her relative youth. Lonely, Emmeline is easily seduced by the Irish-born husband of the factory owner's daughter. She becomes pregnant, although she is not immediately aware of her condition. The embarrassed boarding house landlady contacts Emmeline's aunt who lives in the neighboring town of Lynn, Massachusetts
and evicts her.
Fearful of Emmeline's parents' reaction, Emmeline's aunt and uncle help her conceal the 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 unborn child adopted. Emmeline gives birth to what she believes to be a girl; her aunt refuses to tell her what the sex
of the child is or any other information about the baby in the belief that it will be easier for Emmeline to give the baby up that way. Emmeline returns home shortly thereafter.
Part two of the book picks up more than twenty years in the future. Despite numerous proposals, a middle-aged Emmeline has never married or moved out of her family's home, a fact that chagrins her father. She does have a tight circle of friends, though, socializing primarily with two sisters of a widower who proposed marriage to her. One day, Matthew Gurney, an itinerant worker, 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.
Emmeline's aunt comes to visit after the wedding. She instantly recognizes Matthew and forces him to admit that he is twenty-one years old, not twenty-six 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. Emmeline spends the rest of her long life on the fringes of the town, ignored by all, and tries to subsist on what she can grow herself. A neglected old woman, she dies during a particularly harsh winter.
Judith Rossner
Judith Perelman Rossner was an American novelist, best known for her 1975 novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which was inspired by the murder of Roseann Quinn and examined the underside of the seventies sexual liberation movement. Though Looking for Mr. Goodbar remained Rossner's best known and best...
. 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 exist proving that Gurney and her story were real. An operatic version
Emmeline (opera)
Emmeline is an opera in two acts composed by Tobias Picker with a libretto by JD McClatchy. Picker's first opera, it was commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera company and premiered in 1996...
by Tobias Picker
Tobias Picker
Tobias Picker is an American composer. Picker began composing at the age of eight and studied at the Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and Princeton University, where his principal teachers were Charles Wuorinen, Elliott Carter and Milton Babbitt...
(libretto by J. D. McClatchy) premiered in 1996 and has enjoyed considerable success. It has been recorded and televised.
Plot
In 1839, thirteen-year-old Emmeline Mosher lives on a farm with her family in Fayette, MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. Times are hard so when Emmeline's paternal aunt
Aunt
An aunt is a person who is the sister or sister-in-law of a parent. A man with an equivalent relationship is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece....
suggests that she go to Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
to support her family by working in the factories Emmeline dutifully leaves home.
When she arrives in Lowell, she is sent to live in a boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
for young female mill-workers. Emmeline is a good worker. However, she is unable to befriend any of the other girls who look down on her due to her country ways and her relative youth. Lonely, Emmeline is easily seduced by the Irish-born husband of the factory owner's daughter. She becomes pregnant, although she is not immediately aware of her condition. The embarrassed boarding house landlady contacts Emmeline's aunt who lives in the neighboring town of Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
and evicts her.
Fearful of Emmeline's parents' reaction, Emmeline's aunt and uncle help her conceal the 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 unborn child adopted. Emmeline gives birth to what she believes to be a girl; her aunt refuses to tell her what the sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
of the child is or any other information about the baby in the belief that it will be easier for Emmeline to give the baby up that way. Emmeline returns home shortly thereafter.
Part two of the book picks up more than twenty years in the future. Despite numerous proposals, a middle-aged Emmeline has never married or moved out of her family's home, a fact that chagrins her father. She does have a tight circle of friends, though, socializing primarily with two sisters of a widower who proposed marriage to her. One day, Matthew Gurney, an itinerant worker, 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.
Emmeline's aunt comes to visit after the wedding. She instantly recognizes Matthew and forces him to admit that he is twenty-one years old, not twenty-six 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. Emmeline spends the rest of her long life on the fringes of the town, ignored by all, and tries to subsist on what she can grow herself. A neglected old woman, she dies during a particularly harsh winter.