I just wanted to mention that the "spinster and old maid", two terms that are repeated by little Eva about her aunt, are not understood by the child but were things said to her by her tiny friends who live under the davenport whom no one else can see. The housekeeper, Suze and her husband Jesse, the caretaker are kind and gentle with the child who confides in them about her friends and they take it in stride without alienating her trust and love for them.
I think the aunt has built a wall around her emotions as they pertain to Eva, remembering the lack of demonstrative love or a carefree childhood from her own parent(s). She is not equipped to handle a child, having never been married, much less an orphaned child relative I believe she had no say in bringing into the family home by her own father. The child is an innocent with an overactive imagination and every time something happens, including overhearing one way conversations and giggling, the aunt finally acts out in exasperation poking her umbrella under the davenport, pushing it back to prove there is no one there.
Little Eva is to go with her aunt to the dock to meet "The Captain", whom she has been looking forward to seeing. Based on the aunt running away her little friends, she hides in the smokehouse and confides to Suze what the aunt did and how she injured one of her friend's foot and they would never come back as long as her aunt was there because they didn't like her. But then one came back for a second on the back of a butterfly (I think Mr. Peppercorn) that someone is coming to play with her called Numa.
When the Captain arrives, she runs to him, all dressed up and sweet and happy and when she saw the present he brought her, a large box, she exclaimed out loud, "Numa!" before the box had been opened. The doll is a beautifully coiffed and nicely dressed African American doll...and large enough that little Eva can barely carry her or the box but is delighted with the gift and that Mr. Peppercorn was telling her the truth.
The aunt and her father, The Captain, exchange words after Eva goes upstairs with her doll about his tolerance and patience with little Eva as his own daughter reminds him of his disciplinarian ways with her while she was growing up and at the same age as Eva.
A day or so later, after the aunt leaves, Eva is alone with Suze. Eva confides in Suze as she is helping her bake that she and Numa play lots of games but sometimes Numa gets tired of being a doll so they change places plus, under the bed covers all of a sudden you can tell there are two voices and two live bodies playing and jumping and rolling around. I noticed the strange look on the housekeeper's face when Eva said this but she didn't make an issue about it.
After another altercation because the aunt asks Eva to tell the truth but the truth is so unbelievable, she is punished anyway. The doll is moved out of her reach and behind locked doors. After her aunt leaves for a meeting, she is able to retrieve the doll and she disappears out to play before the summer ends.
The aunt comes home to find the locked doors flung wide open, doll missing from mantle where keys are now found, child is missing, and calls on the live-in Suze and Jesse. The aunt runs out of the house and eventually picks up the sounds of children laughing and talking or repeating a rhyme. As she gets closer, she picks up a branch and starts stripping the leaves off (oh-oh, switch time). She accuses the African American child of sneaking up to play with Eva and then starts hitting the ground in front of her telling her to leave (maybe demanding an answer) and telling her never to come back, all the while using the switch on the ground around and in front of her feet but never striking the child. The child starts to leave, turns back when told never to return and with a furious look on her face...remember Eva said her friends didn't like her aunt...and almost a look of hatred before she disappears. The aunt goes to the doll box and sees a doll similar to her niece Eva and then realizes what she thought to be a lie...incredible nonsense has happened.
She runs calling out to Numa to return, come back but nothing. She picks up Eva, now a doll and holds her tenderly, gently, crying and repeating, " Oh Eva".
I think the aunt has built a wall around her emotions as they pertain to Eva, remembering the lack of demonstrative love or a carefree childhood from her own parent(s). She is not equipped to handle a child, having never been married, much less an orphaned child relative I believe she had no say in bringing into the family home by her own father. The child is an innocent with an overactive imagination and every time something happens, including overhearing one way conversations and giggling, the aunt finally acts out in exasperation poking her umbrella under the davenport, pushing it back to prove there is no one there.
Little Eva is to go with her aunt to the dock to meet "The Captain", whom she has been looking forward to seeing. Based on the aunt running away her little friends, she hides in the smokehouse and confides to Suze what the aunt did and how she injured one of her friend's foot and they would never come back as long as her aunt was there because they didn't like her. But then one came back for a second on the back of a butterfly (I think Mr. Peppercorn) that someone is coming to play with her called Numa.
When the Captain arrives, she runs to him, all dressed up and sweet and happy and when she saw the present he brought her, a large box, she exclaimed out loud, "Numa!" before the box had been opened. The doll is a beautifully coiffed and nicely dressed African American doll...and large enough that little Eva can barely carry her or the box but is delighted with the gift and that Mr. Peppercorn was telling her the truth.
The aunt and her father, The Captain, exchange words after Eva goes upstairs with her doll about his tolerance and patience with little Eva as his own daughter reminds him of his disciplinarian ways with her while she was growing up and at the same age as Eva.
A day or so later, after the aunt leaves, Eva is alone with Suze. Eva confides in Suze as she is helping her bake that she and Numa play lots of games but sometimes Numa gets tired of being a doll so they change places plus, under the bed covers all of a sudden you can tell there are two voices and two live bodies playing and jumping and rolling around. I noticed the strange look on the housekeeper's face when Eva said this but she didn't make an issue about it.
After another altercation because the aunt asks Eva to tell the truth but the truth is so unbelievable, she is punished anyway. The doll is moved out of her reach and behind locked doors. After her aunt leaves for a meeting, she is able to retrieve the doll and she disappears out to play before the summer ends.
The aunt comes home to find the locked doors flung wide open, doll missing from mantle where keys are now found, child is missing, and calls on the live-in Suze and Jesse. The aunt runs out of the house and eventually picks up the sounds of children laughing and talking or repeating a rhyme. As she gets closer, she picks up a branch and starts stripping the leaves off (oh-oh, switch time). She accuses the African American child of sneaking up to play with Eva and then starts hitting the ground in front of her telling her to leave (maybe demanding an answer) and telling her never to come back, all the while using the switch on the ground around and in front of her feet but never striking the child. The child starts to leave, turns back when told never to return and with a furious look on her face...remember Eva said her friends didn't like her aunt...and almost a look of hatred before she disappears. The aunt goes to the doll box and sees a doll similar to her niece Eva and then realizes what she thought to be a lie...incredible nonsense has happened.
She runs calling out to Numa to return, come back but nothing. She picks up Eva, now a doll and holds her tenderly, gently, crying and repeating, " Oh Eva".