Mary Elizabeth Nelson

Introduction

IntroductionIn the first pages of The Neallys, Suzanne Nelson and Annie Baxter complete their drive across the US from California to an apartment in a brownstone at 17 West 87th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is less than 100 yards from Central Park. Waiting on the stoop for them is Mary Elizabeth Nelson. She is Suzanne’s Aunt, and the two met only twice before, at a disaster of a Thanksgiving years earlier.

In the course of Suzanne’s story, we hear a great deal about Mary. But some things are glossed over with yada yada yada. Mary’s story is worth her telling. This is that story. Most of it takes place before that summer day when Suzanne and Annie saw her on West 87th Street.