The Saturdays

Elizabeth Enright’s children’s novel The Saturdays was published in 1941 and is set in the same period. The novel’s historical period greatly influences its characters and events, as the Melendy kids cope with the typical challenges of growing up at the tail end of the Great Depression while becoming increasingly conscious of the new war beginning in Europe.

The Great Depression began with the collapse of the US stock market in October 1929, after which economic contagion rapidly spread through much of the world. By 1932, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the US had fallen by 30%, and millions of people were out of work. Though the world economy began to recover by 1933, unemployment in the US was still around 15% in 1940, far higher than the 4-6% that economists consider healthy. The Melendy family appears to have been spared many of the vicissitudes of the Depression, as they continue to live in a spacious Manhattan brownstone, vacation in the Hudson Valley, and employ a live-in housekeeper. However, Mona’s conversation with the hairdresser, Miss Pearl, shows her that the preceding decade has not been so comfortable for many of her neighbors. Miss Pearl’s story of her impoverished childhood and abusive stepmother teaches Mona to be grateful for what she has.