Mary Emma & Company

by Ralph Moody

Book Overview

The protagonist, Mary Emma Moody, widowed mother of six, has taken her family east in 1912 to begin a new life. Her son, Ralph, then thirteen, recalls how the Moodys survive that first bleak winter in a Massachusetts town. Money and prospects are lacking, but not so faith and resourcefulness. "Mother" in Little Britches and Man of the Family, Mary Emma emerges fully as a character in this book, and Ralph, no longer called "Little Britches,"...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803282117
• ISBN13: 9780803282117
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Book Great Author

Highly recommended series. I recommend as an alternative to the Little House series for boys. Well written.

The Moodys soldier on

This, the fourth volume in Ralph Moody's reminiscences, picks up immediately after the close of "Man of the Family." It's January, 1912, and widowed Mary Emma Moody, unwilling to give testimony that may send an innocent man to the gallows, has fled Colorado with her six children, of whom the eldest are Gracie, almost 15, and Ralph, 13, to the suburbs of Boston, where her brother Frank and his family live. Crammed into Frank's two-bedroom apartment, her first priority is to find quarters they can afford to rent, followed by work at which to earn a living--taking in laundry, since she's already used to that. Obstacles soon arise: rents are far higher in Massachusetts than in Colorado, and Mary Emma has to learn a whole new style of ironing when it becomes obvious that she'll have to do fine washing for families rather than hotel curtains. But Ralph soon finds part-time work in a neighborhood store, which leads the family, before long, to the rental of half an old Victorian house and a windfall of a houseful of furniture to go in it for only $50. Then there's a neglected furnace and leaky water pipes to struggle with, and pickups and deliveries to make in the midst of a blizzard, and the question of affordable coal. But with help from Uncle Frank and Great-Uncle Levi (a delightful and vividly-described character), along with Ralph's employers and his new friends among the neighborhood boys, their first five months in their new home end on an upbeat note as they celebrate May Day with an avalanche of baskets for Gracie--and one for Mary Emma from her "best lover," second son Philip. Moody's trademark humor and vivid description is the hallmark of this book, especially when he tells of Frank and Levi's pitch-in to renovate the cellar laundry room and the bridge fire which ends by gifting the Moodys with a huge load of saleable kindling wood. His ongoing enmity with his school principal, who seems to have prejudged him a "bad boy," and his seesaw relationship with Cop Watson, who alternately warns him to take care and assists him and his friends with their wood-salvage operation, are other high points, as is the night sledding expedition to the old clay-pit where Gracie--often depicted as bossy and high-toned--forgets for a while that she's growing up and originates a daring "circle route." It's a bit disappointing that he gives little attention to what must have been a wrenching change in his life (after four years in the West he has come to think of himself as a kind of apprentice cowboy), but on balance, the story is a fascinating and inspiring one.

this is an awsome book

This book is one of Ralph's great. The Moody Family goes through lot's off hardships after leaving Colorado.

Excellent book for the whole family, Mr. Moody's and yours!

As a forth grader in Colorado our teacher read the first two books in Ralph Moody's series to our class. Now, almost 30 years later I'm reading the whole series to my family, we love them. Even our 3 year old asks me to read them at bed time.Mr. Moody's descriptions and the story of his life are more than touching and heartwarming, they are important lessions in morality, life and love. You cannot help but fall in love with young Ralph, his independant mother, and all the rest of her children.You will laugh and cry as this young cowboy and his family make a new home in Boston. Starting with almost nothing, through hard work the whole family pitches in to make their own way. Rich with history, this book is about life, both the good parts, as well as the bad and how one young man, lived it (mistakes and all).Even if you don't think you like reading, try these books. They will change your mind.

The saga of the fatherless Moody clan in Massachusetts

Another inspiring account of the Moody fanily. This time the scene is Massachusetts. The earlier books were set in the American West. Mary Emma is the mother of the clan. She is determined that her family will make its own way in life. She gets a job in a sweatshop to learn how to do fancy laundering. Ralph works at a store in his spare time. Almost all of the children do something to help earn a living.At school Ralph gets in trouble for things that wouldn't have mattered in Colorado. The younger children are seen more in this book than they were previously. Grace is now a young lady who is tempted to put on airs. The whole family's work ethic stands out as refreshing compared to many young folks of today. Their grit and determination are to be admired. I recommend the reading of this book by any one of any age.