Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

Emma is the teenage daughter of Bud who is already married to an older man. The unhappy nature of this marriage and the necessity for Emma to leave the family to go off and live with a man with whom she has nothing in common. Emma is presented as the centerpiece of how the Woods family responds to the intrusion into their lives much more positively than the Ricketts. One of the most iconic scenes in the book is the moment of sad departure when Emma is forced to drive off with her unkind husband.