Emily of New Moon

This story traces Emily s early childhood: raised by a loving intellectual father to be an independent thinker and a fighter against injustice. She has a vivid imagination that allows her to see beyond the normal, into enchanted realms and misty secrets. At her father s funeral Emily, numbed by sadness, makes a poor impression on her aunts and uncles. They draw lots to see who must take her. An imaginative child, with deeply felt emotions, Emily immediately dislikes her harsh Aunt Elizabeth. She s torn from everything she loves. Aunt Elizabeth even forces her to abandon Pandora, her cat. In the end, Emily resolves to be the hero of her own life, and to find happiness at New Moon.

Emily moves into New Moon with her spinster aunts and odd Cousin Jimmy. Elizabeth, determined to do her duty by the child , forbids Emily to read or write fiction, and overwhelms her with strict rules. Emily finds paper in the garret. She can t help herself, she must write. When her cat, Pandora turns up, Emily feels a hint of happiness again, she even finds allies in Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy. Then Aunt Elizabeth discovers her with the very things she had banned. Emily tries to be good, but it s not in her nature to be subservient. She and Elizabeth have a showdown that culminates with Emily chasing her cat into a storm that nearly takes both their lives.

Elizabeth horrifies Emily with the announcement that she will attend school. As Cousin Jimmy drives her there, they pause at the Murray family graveyard where Emily visualizes her ancestors and begins to connect with her Murray roots. Emily s first day of school ends in disaster, with taunting children and a mean teacher. But she does meet Ilse, a wild undisciplined child, who become her closest friend. Emily witnesses one of Cousin Jimmy s spells and inadvertently bares the festering secret that binds him to Aunt Elizabeth. Knowledge of that tragedy gives her a better understanding of them both.

Emily finds an unfinished, disappointed house half buried in the sand, and takes refuge there after an embarrassing incident with her nasty teacher. Suddenly, time rolls back she envisions a tragic event that broke up two lovers. And...it involved a younger Aunt Laura. Perry Miller desperately wants to go to school but Aunt Elizabeth does not believe a mere choreboy needs an education. Insulted and hurt, Perry leaves New Moon. Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy, in a rare moment of assertiveness, stand up to Elizabeth. Emily finds an ancient letter in the Disappointed House that would have saved heartbreak had it only been read years earlier. This truth shakes the house to its foundation, trapping Emily inside. Perry comes to the rescue.

Emily and Ilse, curious about the recluse, Lofty John, sneak into his barn. He captures Emily and forces her to eat an apple he claims is poisoned. Sure she s about to die, Emily tries to be brave and prays to her parents on the road to Heaven. Elizabeth fells honour bound to apologize to Lofty John for Emily s trespass. This only reignites the feud between them. Lofty John is a pathetic, nearly blind man. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, he drops his lantern into the straw. Jimmy rushes into the burning barn to save him. Aunt Elizabeth agrees to a financial arrangement, ensuring Lofty John gets the care he needs.

Emily s vivid imagination introduces her to the spirit of her mother as a child. The incident prompts her to search out the ragged remains of Juliet s doll. She and Aunt Laura restore it. Mr. Bowles meets Laura and is immediately smitten. He hires her, Jimmy and Emily to make more dolls to sell in his hotel s shop. When Emily s mother s doll is sent to the hotel by mistake, they rush there to save it. Then Laura discovers a heartbreaking truth about Mr. Bowles that sends her home in tears.

Oliver, Emily s cousin, announces that New Moon actually belongs to his father. Maida, one of the girls working nearby, calls him mean and prances off with Emily and Ilse. Maida is pregnant and unwed. When she loses her job and is left penniless, the children, Emily, Ilse, Perry and Teddy, get her settled in the Disappointed House. Maida goes into labour. Her screams send them running for help. But it s not Laura who takes command of the delivery, it s Perry. Determined that the newborn will not live in an orphanage, Emily decides to keep him herself. However, Maida leaves him on the steps of the church. Emily and the priest take the baby to its father. Oliver is captivated by his tiny son, so we know he will be well cared for.

A young boy blames himself for his mother s poverty and depression. His first day at school he wets his pants in front of the other children. Emily is chagrined to realize that Duncan saw her laughing at him. She befriends Duncan and brings him to New Moon. But when Aunt Elizabeth finds out who he is, she sends him packing. There is a history between this boy s mother, Alma, and Elizabeth. A wrenching scene between Alma and Elizabeth culminates with the realization that it s little Duncan who is paying for the sins of his father. Elizabeth s anger drains away.

Miss Brownell will leave her post as Blair Water s teacher to marry the school inspector. Her possible replacement, Mr. Carpenter, immediately recognizes and encourages Emily s talents. Unfortunately, Mr. Carpenter drinks. One night, Carpenter staggers into New Moon and calls Elizabeth a book burner. She threatens to have him dismissed. The next morning, Emily, Perry , Jimmy and Laura try to get Carpenter cleaned up for his evaluation because they believe him to be a wonderful teacher. However, Elizabeth refuses to cooperate until Laura makes a startling point that shames her into action.

Ilse Burnley wants to learn about her dead mother, but her father adamantly refuses to discuss it. Emily, who felt only love from her own father, hurts for her friend. While visiting her zany great aunts, Emily has a vision of Ilse s mother, Beatrice, as a heartsick ghost. When the aunts tell her a scandalous story of how Beatrice ran away with her lover, Emily refuse to believe it. She tears off into the frozen night and gets trapped in a rabbit snare. The dashing Dean Jarback Priest, a distant cousin, finds Emily and carries her back to safety.

Emily and Dean decide to find out what really happened to Ilse s mother, Beatrice. Emily sees a woman in the distance and thinking it is a ghost, runs after her only to get lost in the wintry forest. Meanwhile Ilse has gone to Shrewsbury with Jimmy and Perry on her own quest for the truth. After they break into an old warehouse, the police arrest the others, but a terrified Ilse bolts. She stumbles across Emily s inert body in the forest. Dean frantically rounds up everyone at New Moon for a search party. Elizabeth follows the girls tracks in the snow and finds them. Delirious, Emily rants about an old well. The next morning they find Beatrice s remains. She didn t run away from her family eight years earlier, she fell into a well.

When Emily s cat, Pandora, is savaged by a raccoon, Aunt Laura takes it to Dr. Burnley. There she and the doctor share a bittersweet moment which is witnessed by Mr. Bowles. Bowles asks her to marry him. Laura says yes, but not with her whole heart.

Aunt Elizabeth discovers Emily s deepest secret...the letter bills hidden in the attic. This happens at a critical time in Laura Murray s life, the announcement of her forthcoming marriage to Ian Bowles.