Emily Dickinson

This novel is a fictional take on the iconic American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). She is the middle child of a respected lawyer and lives with her mother and younger sister in the bright yellow Dickinson Homestead. She is petite, has russet hair, and defies social conventions by remaining single and childless and declining invitations to engage with society. When the novel opens in 1866, we find her as a 36-year-old spinster devoted to writing poetry. She lives for her writing, quoting and reciting poetry at all times, weaving literary references into her daily conversations, gazing admiringly at the portraits of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and George Eliot, and devouring the writing of women such as Emily Brontë by night.

She is lonely and seeks companionship, often known to smother people with love. Her closest friend (and now sister-in-law) Susan has been a constant companion and audience to her...