Half a Quartet: The Saturdays and The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright

I've made it a point to re-read some of the classic children's books of mid-twentieth century America – favorites like the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace, Beverly Cleary's novels of first love, and now I'm halfway through The Melendy Quartet by the writer and illustrator Elizabeth Enright. 

The Melendy Quartet follows a family of four sisters and brothers: from the oldest down are Mona, Rush, Randy (a nickname for Miranda) and Oliver. The children's mother has passed away (we never learn when or how in the first two volumes), and they live with their beloved father, housekeeper/governess Cuffy and Willy Sloper, the all-around handyman who is handy at many other things as well.

We first meet the Melendys in the Manhattan of 1940, where they live in a somewhat threadbare and rundown brownstone house somewhere on the East Side below Midtown. They are comfortable, but far from wealthy. The Depression has most likely taken its toll on the family finances. We are not quite clear on what the father does for a living, but it requires a lot of typing in his study.

The first book, The Saturdays, takes its name from a plan the children put together to pool their allowances so that each one can take his or her turn with a Saturday afternoon adventure in the city, on her or his own. Each one has his or her interest that they want to follow – Mona loves the theater and aspires to act, Rush is a pianist, Randy wants to be an artist or ballet dancer, and little Oliver (just six) wants only to see the circus. By our standards, it's quite remarkable that the children are allowed to go off on their own, but it feels wonderful liberating to imagine oneself in that milieu. The city was less dangerous in some ways eighty years ago, or so it seems... 

Randy's adventure turns out to have the most consequences for the family (in a good way). When she goes to see an exhibition of paintings, she runs into old Mrs. Oliphant, an eccentric family friend who knew their mother as well as their father. Mrs. Oliphant takes Randy to a wonderful afternoon tea and tells her stories of her youth in France. They become good friends and Mrs. Oliphant becomes a major presence in all of their lives, taking them off for a summer seaside adventure and so much more. 

In book two, The Four-Story Mistake, we learn that the family is moving to a house in the country, most likely "upstate" New York, in a place that is reachable by train. It is now wartime, and there are changes in their lifestyle. Father has a job in Washington, D.C, and the children are in the care of Cuffy and Willy most of the time. 

The Four-Story Mistake is the name for their new house, a large structure with a cupola, several miles from the nearest town. The children must learn how to live in a country setting, but being the intrepid Melendys, they adapt well. Mona, still in her mid-teens, finds a part-time job as a radio actress and goes to the city twice weekly with Cuffy to record, Rush and Randy draw closer by uniting more often in their adventures, and Oliver has fun doing what nine-year-old boys do in the country. 

As a reader with a love for old New York, it was as hard for me as for the Melendys to leave the city brownstone behind, but the new old house has its own glories. We all make the best of it, with many gentle lessons learned, and lots of fun along the way.