Emily Of New Moon

Emily is stunned by the news, and Ellen says that she’s been encouraging Emily’s dad to tell her so that she’ll be prepared when it happens. Since he hadn’t, she decided to tell her. Emily runs upstairs to her father’s room. Ellen continues to talk to herself, saying that she did what needed to be done and that Emily is like her mother’s family—the Murrays—because she is proud. She disapproves of how Emily’s father has raised her without sending her to school, and she hopes the Murrays will socialize her properly.

Emily spends as much time with her father as she can over the next several weeks. He tells her about meeting her mother and how happy they were together until she died when Emily was four. He also tells her about her mother’s family and how they disapproved of him. They wanted to take Emily in when her mother passed away, but her father insisted that she stay with him. Emily does not look forward to meeting relatives who have despised her father. She wishes that her father would take her with him when he dies, but he tells her that after a while, she won’t feel that way anymore and that he and her mother will wait for her. Emily replies that she does not think she likes God very much if he takes her parents away from her, but he reassures her that their God is pure love, unlike the God that Ellen Greene talks about.

After their conversation, Emily feels calmer and more peaceful. She falls asleep, and her father, putting her to bed, predicts that she will experience great love and great pain in her life. He prays that her mother’s family will care for her through these experiences.

After Mr. Starr’s death, Ellen says Emily should hope that her Aunt Ruth takes her in because she is wealthy, has no children, and keeps her house tidy. Emily doesn’t care about those things and doesn’t think she wants to live with Aunt Ruth. She wants Aunt Laura to take her because Laura most reminded her father of her mother. Ellen tells her that Laura lives with Aunt Elizabeth, who is the boss at New Moon farm, so it must Elizabeth’s her decision.

When Ellen introduces Emily to her relatives one by one, Emily is disappointed that they are unfriendly and judgmental, and they are displeased at Emily’s rudeness: She wiped her cheek with a handkerchief after Uncle Wallace kissed it and refused to shake Aunt Ruth’s hand. The only relative she likes is Aunt Laura.

After the introductions, Emily sits and listens to them talk about her. She thinks about how she would like to write a description of each one of them, and the “flash” comes to her for the first time since she found out her father was dying. She is thrilled to experience it again because she had been worried she never would.

When Ellen announces that dinner is ready, she tells Emily to wait in another room because there is not enough space at the table for her. While all of her relatives eat, she sits by herself in the parlor where her father’s coffin had been. She falls asleep on the floor next to it, and after dinner, Aunt Laura finds her there and takes her to bed. Emily wakes up and asks for her cat, Mike, but Aunt Elizabeth is horrified at the idea of a cat in her bed and refuses. However, as Emily is about to fall asleep, she feels Mike beside her, purring.

The next morning, Emily creeps into the parlor before anyone else is awake to say goodbye privately to her father. She tells him that she didn’t cry in front of her Murray relatives, but now that she is alone with him, she sobs. She tells him she doesn’t think they like her, except for maybe Aunt Laura.

When she leaves the room, she finds her cousin Jimmy feeding Mike. He gives her some peppermint lozenges, which Emily hates, but she appreciates the kind gesture.

The funeral is that afternoon, and the Murrays are taken aback at that Emily is stoic and calm. They think she is strange for not showing any emotion at her father’s funeral but do not know that she cried privately earlier. Emily does not go to the burial ceremony in Charlottetown but instead stays behind with Ellen. Ellen comments about her father looking down from heaven and is horrified when Emily responds that her father isn’t in heaven. She clarifies, explaining that her father is taking his time on his way to heaven so that she can catch up with him. She says that she hopes she dies soon so that she can be with her parents again, and Ellen tells her that is a wicked thing to say.

When the Murrays return, Ellen sends Emily upstairs so that they can discuss “business,” presumably who will take Emily. Instead, Emily hides under the table where her relatives sit and listens to everything they say. They are critical of her and how her father raised her, and several speak negatively about her, which she refutes in her head while remaining still and quiet. She conceals herself well until Aunt Ruth says it is disgraceful that her father didn’t leave her any money and that he was a “miserable failure” (39). Emily can’t take it anymore, and she screams that he wasn’t, popping her head out from under the tablecloth. Her relatives are shocked, and Emily continues to loudly defend her father. Ruth tells her it is wrong to eavesdrop and sends her to her room. At first, Emily is upset and thinks she will cry all night, but then she decides to write about the experience and describe all her relatives exactly how she sees them. Doing this helps her calm down and feel satisfied.

When Emily comes downstairs the next morning, she finds all the Murrays waiting for her. Aunt Elizabeth tells her they could not agree on who would take her because she had been so rude the day before, and no one really wanted to claim her. She has written everyone’s names on slips of paper and asks Emily to pick one to determine who will give her a place to live. Emily draws Elizabeth’s name.

Now that that issue has been settled, the family prepares to leave. Only Aunt Laura stays back and hugs Emily, telling her she is glad she will be coming to live at New Moon. Emily tells her that she really isn’t as rude as everyone thinks.

Cousin Jimmy tells Emily that Aunt Laura makes great apple turnovers and is generally much more permissive than Elizabeth. He promises to recite some of his poetry for her, which he does not do for everyone.

They stay at Emily’s house for one more day so that she can pack her things before going to New Moon. When Emily asks how she should carry her cats, Elizabeth says that the cats are not allowed to come. Emily begs and protests, and Jimmy argues on her behalf. Eventually, Elizabeth says she can bring one of the cats, not both. Emily hates having to choose but eventually decides to bring Saucy Sal with her because Ellen would take Mike and treat him better than she would Sal.

During the packing, Elizabeth picks up the account book that Emily writes in, and Emily refuses to let her read it. Elizabeth tells her that she will not allow Emily to hide anything from her and that there must be something shameful in that book. Emily insists she wants to keep it private, so she throws it into the kitchen stove and then cries at having lost all her writing.

Emily goes around her house to say goodbye to all the little details she will miss. In her room, she says goodbye to the view from her window. She is surprised that when she says goodbye to Ellen, Ellen bursts into tears and hugs her. Emily is not particularly sad to leave Ellen, and she is more concerned about her taking care of Mike.

Emily boards the Murray’s buggy with Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Laura, Jimmy, and Sal. She looks back at her home one last time and is about to cry, but Laura reaches for her hand and squeezes it to comfort her.

On the buggy ride to New Moon, Emily and her relatives stop for dinner and her aunts shop for new clothes for her. Jimmy takes Emily to get ice cream while they wait. He tells her to enjoy the ice cream because Elizabeth will never let them have it at New Moon.

Once at New Moon, Emily explores her new home. The house is nicer than the one she shared with her father but old-fashioned; Elizabeth still insists on lighting the house with candles. Emily thinks the kitchen is strange and interesting, with its worn-out floors and various foods hanging from the rafters.

She warms herself by the fire and opens a cupboard to look at the books, but Elizabeth tells her those are not for her to read. When it is time for bed, Elizabeth tells Emily that she will be sleeping with her because Laura is a light sleeper and will be too disturbed by having a child in her bed, and the other rooms in the house seem too big and lonely for Emily. Emily is not thrilled to share a bed with Elizabeth or undress and put on a nightgown in front of her. Once in bed, Emily begins to cry, and Elizabeth scolds her, reminding Emily of how lucky she is to have a home at all.

Emily tells Elizabeth that she won’t trouble them for very long at New Moon because she intends to earn a living for herself when she is an adult. Elizabeth replies that Murray women have never had to work; she just needs to behave well and act properly and modestly. Emily thinks that sounds difficult but says she will try.

Eventually, Emily settles down, and Elizabeth falls asleep while she lies awake. She hears the wind and is happy to know that the Wind Woman, who visited her at her old home, has followed her to New Moon. The comforting sound of the wind finally lulls her to sleep.