Mrs. Roberto: Or the Widowy Worries of the Moosepath League [Hardcover]

Van Reid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2003

Van Reid's Moosepath League series has captivated critics and readers alike with intricate and rollicking adventures set in colorfully detailed turn-of-the-century Maine. Mrs. Roberto, the fourth in this deliciously picaresque series, begins as portly, jovial Tobias Walton continues to woo the elegant and wry Phileda McCannon. Soon, however, he and his close friend Sundry Moss are back on the road, whereupon they become unexpected guests at the eccentric Fern Farm.

Meanwhile, the guileless Joseph Thump, charter member of the Moosepath League, finds in his pocket a mysterious card bearing a well-remembered name: Mrs. Dorothea Roberto. Renowned for her death-defying jumps from a hot-air balloon, that shapely lady once captured Thump's heart. Now, certain she is in danger, he and the Moosepath League embark on a search for her that will bring them all together in the tiny hamlet of Iceboro. Filled with comedy, suspense, and romance, Mrs. Roberto is the perfect addition to everyone's summer reading list.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reid returns with the fourth rousing installment in his series featuring the bumbling but well-intentioned members of the Moosepath League of Portland, Maine, circa 1897. Comic, ruefully romantic and ever so tongue-in-cheek, this genteel and entertaining if sometimes meandering farce once again chronicles the league's lighter-than-air antics. Though Chairman Tobias Walton has faithfully promised his fiancee, Miss Phileda McCannon, that he will "enter no intrigues, nor court unusual company" while she's out of town, he and his faithful assistant, Sundry Moss, can't help addressing the mystery of depressed Hercules, a pig once the very soul of Fern Farm. Meanwhile, a trio of Tobias's fellow Moosepathians-Joseph Thump, Christopher Eagleton and Matthew Ephram-engage in an adventure of their own. When they attend While She Waits in Silence, a play with a very intriguing second act, they become convinced that Mrs. Roberto, a celebrated Ascensionist (she parachutes from a hot-air balloon "in her attractive suit of tights"), must be rescued from some unknown peril. Soon, Thump's humble look-alike, Thaddeus Q. Spark (proprietor of the Faithful Mermaid), and Mailon Ring, a mysterious street urchin, are involved in this comedy of errors, which is further complicated by Fuzz Hadley and his vile gang. Reid has carved a niche for himself with his Victorian spoofs, redolent of New England and full of derring-do and old-fashioned romance, and he is in top form with this latest series entry.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The Moosepath League in late-nineteenth-century Maine constitutes a trio of unlikely heroes, Christopher Eagleton, Joseph Thump, and Matthew Ephram; their primus inter pares, Tobias Walton; and his gentleman's gentleman, Sundry Moss. This latest in the series presents several interconnected set pieces that combine a touch of Jerome K. Jerome, Conan Doyle at his airiest, and a large helping of shaggy dog. A drunk Gillie Hicks tosses a piano out of the second floor of the Weary Sailor to begin the Moosepathians' adventures during a May week in 1897. While Sundry gets to the bottom of a prize pig's peculiar behavior, a few sets of lovers young and old begin or end their ancient dance. The language is heightened and innocent; the men are gentle and often foolish; the women wise, graceful, and wry. Mrs. Roberto of the title might seem a mere McGuffin except for her continual presence in the thoughts of the Moosepathians. The whole ends with the promise of weddings, pairings, and discoveries to come. Deliciously amiable summer reading. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Viking; 1st edition (July 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670032255
• ISBN-13: 978-0670032259
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,495,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned wit and adventure, September 5, 2003

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mrs. Roberto: Or the Widowy Worries of the Moosepath League (Hardcover)

The willing adventurers of the Moosepath League of Victorian Portland, Maine, have lost none of their good-natured innocence in this fourth adventure, despite entanglements with tavern keepers, loose women, pickpockets, hoboes and worse. Indeed, Van Reid's droll storytelling depends upon it.

Misdirection and misunderstanding form the strong foundation of the meandering and digressive missions of the League's six members, who gather at the Shipswood Restaurant in the spring of 1897 for one of their regular dinners. They raise their water glasses (prohibition has been in effect in Maine for 46 years) to their only female member, Miss Phileda McCannon, who's making a journey to settle her deceased aunt's affairs. Mr. Tobias Walton, their chairman and the oldest at 48, is a bit subdued on this occasion as Phileda has not given an answer to his proposal of marriage.

Joseph Thump, Christopher Eagleton and Matthew Ephram are still in a small state of excitement after nearly running down a tavern keeper named Sparks who could have been Thump's double, but for his workingman's clothing and his high-pitched voice. The youngest member, Walton's faithful assistant Sundry Moss, 23, is the only one who dares to hazard that the crowd of ruffians backing away from the near-accident were pursuing Sparks rather than attempting his rescue.

The trio of Thump, Eagleton and Ephram have not seen the last of Sparks. Walking home through an unfamiliar and doubtful part of town, Thump happens to save a policeman from certain death-by-falling-piano, thereby incurring Mrs. Sparks' heartfelt gratitude for preserving her cousin, the perpetrator, from a murder charge.

This might again have been the end of it, but the trio, inspired by an incident in a play, determine that the lovely balloon ascensionist, Mrs. Roberto, must be in need of rescuing. Their mission leads them to a house of ill-repute (not that they ever realize where they are) and a run-in with the gang that's after Sparks, from which they escape thanks to Sparks' youngest son and his urchin friend who lead them over Portland's slippery rooftops. Sparks' network of less-than-respectable relatives continues to aid the trio as they seek Mrs. Roberto from Bangor to Dresden Mills, taking up with a large party of hoboes along the way.

Meanwhile, Moss, attempting to distract his employer, has taken Walton to visit his uncle in Norridgewock, though they never make it quite that far. The train is delayed in Bowdoinham where Walton is pressed to come to the aid of a glum prize pig. Perplexed by the locals' assumption of his expertise in porcine matters (the reader has been let-in on the misunderstanding), but as willing and easy-going as ever, Walton embarks on a visit to the Ferns, unhappy owners of the depressed pig, where Moss, a farmer's son and a bit more worldly than his fellow Moosepathians, soon susses the problem.

With digressions for the furtherance of romance and good acquaintance, Reid piles misunderstandings upon misunderstandings, constructing a hilarious journey through the towns and by-ways of Maine and the social strata of its best inhabitants. It all culminates in a spectacular and chaotic natural disaster, reuniting the League and necessitating numerous rescues and confusion and some wonderfully vivid writing.

Lots of local color and history round out the adventure. Reid's prose is playful, witty and dry, as well as eloquent and visual. The contrast between the transparent innocence of the steadfastly clueless trio and the sharp wits of Sundry Moss (think young George Burns and Gracie Allen) is a pleasure, further enhanced by the ready-for-anything calm of Toby Walton. Reid (whose Maine roots go back more than two centuries) leaves us with a tantalizing hint of the next to come in the League's adventures. These books are for anyone who enjoys wit and good-natured storytelling in the Dickensian tradition.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Plan to Stave Off Melancholy", August 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mrs. Roberto: Or the Widowy Worries of the Moosepath League (Hardcover)

I had lunch with Van Reid in August of 2001. He was as fun to talk to as his books are to read! I love the humor, the insight, the intrigue and the adventures of the Moosepath League! I agree that this installment is not as "heavy" as Daniel Plainway (at least to all but Ephram, Eagleton,and Thump!) but all the other elements are present. I laughed out loud several times while flying, which caused my fellow passengers to wonder about me, I am sure. Moxie!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Van Reid does it again!, July 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mrs. Roberto: Or the Widowy Worries of the Moosepath League (Hardcover)

For excellent quality, humor, detailed plots, and kind, likeable characters, you can't beat Van Reid's "Moosepath League" novels. The latest, "Mrs. Roberto", seems to me to be a little lighter in tone than "Molly Peer" or "Daniel Plainway", but is still immensely involving and entertaining. This kind of writing just cannot be found anywhere else today. If you are fond of the classics or nineteenth century American literature, you will love Van Reid.