Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
"Thimble Summer" by Elizabeth Enright is a children's novel that captures the transformative summer of a young girl named Garnet Linden and her family living in Esau's Valley, Wisconsin, during the Great Depression. Unlike traditional linear narratives, the story unfolds through a series of episodic adventures, reflecting themes of discovery and growth. The tale begins with Garnet’s discovery of a silver thimble in a stream, which she sees as an omen of change, coinciding with the much-needed rain that revitalizes the valley's crops. Throughout the summer, Garnet experiences a variety of journeys—from helping a runt piglet named Timmy to going on adventures that deepen her understanding of family and community.
Enright’s writing draws from her own childhood experiences in Wisconsin, emphasizing the importance of familial bonds, the rhythm of the seasons, and the interplay between rural life and childhood imagination. The novel not only illustrates Garnet's personal growth but also captures the essence of the era, where families navigate economic hardships with resilience. Thimble Summer is notable for its rich prose and complex character portrayals, establishing Enright as a significant figure in children's literature, often compared to contemporaries like Eleanor Estes. This work, which won the Newbery Medal, marks a pivotal point in Enright's career, setting the stage for her future works centered around family dynamics and episodic storytelling.
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Subject Terms
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
First published: 1938; illustrated
Type of work: Domestic realism
Themes: Family and nature
Time of work: The Depression
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: Rural Wisconsin
Principal Characters:
Garnet Linden , a nine-year-old tomboyJay Linden , her eleven-year-old brotherCitronella Hauser , her best friendMrs. Eberhardt , Citronella’s great-grandmotherEric Swanstrom , a homeless thirteen-year-oldMr. Freebody , a kindly neighbor, who often rescues Garnet from the consequences of her actionsTimmy , a piglet, the runt of the litter
The Story
In the tradition of family stories, Thimble Summer consists of a series of episodes rather than a linear plot. The reader first meets Garnet and her family at the beginning of a hot, dry summer in Esau’s Valley, Wisconsin, during the Depression. In the course of that summer, Garnet begins to grow up, the Linden family expands and its fortunes change, and the perennial rhythm of the seasons works its magic.
Discovery is a motif in many of the episodes, starting with Garnet’s finding an old silver thimble in a stream one oppressively hot day. Ever hopeful, Garnet is sure that the thimble is an omen; that very evening the drought breaks, and a spectacular thunderstorm heralds the renewal of all the crops in the valley. Also at the beginning of the summer, Garnet feels sorry for the runt piglet, Timmy, and begins paying him special attention. Where others take the familiar for granted, Garnet can often see something new and important.
Garnet’s discoveries are not limited to the here-and-now. In imagination, she goes back to the Indian days of Esau’s Valley through the reminiscences of her friend Citronella’s aged great-grandmother, Mrs. Eberhardt. So, too, she broadens her life vicariously through the adventures of Eric Swanstrom, a homeless vagabond who turns up one night when Garnet’s family and Mr. Freebody are firing lime for their new barn. Eric stays on and eventually becomes part of the family, and Garnet discovers much about how a family grows and changes.
Several of Garnet’s discoveries involve journeys. A trip to nearby Blaiseville leads to her being locked in the town library with Citronella; a trip to New Conniston, eighteen miles away, introduces her to people outside the valley and to the experience of running out of money far from home. A day at the county fair brings another emergency when Garnet and Citronella are trapped on the Ferris wheel. On all these excursions, Garnet’s resourcefulness, as well as the generosity and helpfulness of those around her, pull her through.
By summer’s end, the Lindens have a new barn and a new member of the family, the crops are safely gathered, and Timmy has won a blue ribbon. Garnet, reflecting on what has happened in this memorable summer, sees a magnificent blue heron, which seems to symbolize her happiness; the heron takes flight, and Garnet crosses the pasture turning handsprings in her exuberance.
Context
Thimble Summer marks a turning point in Enright’s career. Originally trained as an artist, she had illustrated several books (for one of which she also wrote the text) before returning to her own experiences in Wisconsin for material. Enright’s mother (sister of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright) came from a place known among her family as “the Valley.” The author, an only child brought up in the city and suburbs by a single parent, enjoyed many visits to rural Wisconsin; later, she took her own children there and incorporated their experiences into her stories. The myth of the countryside as a place of permanence, to which one can always return, meant much to Enright. (Later, another city-bred writer—E. B. White—would use similar material—farm, girl, and pig—in Charlotte’s Web, 1952.)
All Enright’s books after the Newbery Medal-winning Thimble Summer deal with families, and most employ the same kind of episodic plot, interspersed with stories of interesting people’s lives in other places and other times. During the 1940’s, Enright brought out a very popular series of books about the Melendy family. In The Saturdays (1941), she recounts the adventures of the four Melendy children on their Saturday-afternoon outings in Manhattan. In The Four-Story Mistake (1942), the family moves to the country and has more adventures, including an acting career for Mona and the discovery of a diamond ring in a brook by Randy. Then There Were Five (1944) describes the arrival of an orphan boy, Mark, who joins the family. A later book, Spiderweb for Two (1951), continues the story of the younger two Melendy children, after Mona and Rush have gone to school.
Some years later, Enright introduced the Blake family, in Gone-away Lake (1957) and Return to Gone-away (1961). Again, an episodic series of adventures leads to a permanent move to the country, and again, well-drawn child characters enjoy a number of different experiences and learn from one another, as well as from some odd but likable older people.
Among writers of family stories, Enright has most often been compared to Eleanor Estes, author of the Moffat books. Like Estes, Enright portrays the family as stable, traditional, and almost infinitely flexible. Both authors show families headed by a single parent and frequently short of money. The Moffat children live in the shadow of World War I, the Linden children in the anxiety of the Depression, and the Melendy children in the rationing and shortages of World War II. Few other writers of family stories equal Enright and Estes in their careful handling of the political and economic background.
Where Enright excels is in her delicate and varied prose style, in her descriptions of nature, and in the psychological complexity of her characters. Enright chose to write in essentially the same style she had used in her adult stories for The New Yorker magazine. In this respect, she invites comparison with another great prose stylist who wrote for children of all ages, E. B. White.