Emily's House
Emily’s House (Berkley) is Amy Belding Brown‘s long-awaited novel about one of America’s greatest poets, Emily Dickinson, and her confidante, the Irish maid responsible for saving Dickinson’s work from certain destruction, albeit against the poet’s expressed wishes.
Through the voice of Margaret Maher, the headstrong 27-year-old Irish immigrant who served the Dickinson household for 30 years, readers are not only drawn into the eccentricities of the enigmatic poet but also the Irish immigrant experience. Set in mid-19th-century Amherst, Massachusetts, the story opens with Margaret accepting a temporary position with the Dickinsons to earn the money she needs to join her brothers in California. Instead, she ends up remaining with the family and develops a close relationship with Emily. From Margaret’s viewpoint, the reader experiences Dickinson’s secret world.
AN UNEXPECTEDLY FASCINATING NARRATOR
Brown, who is related to Dickinson on her father’s side, had initially intended for Emily to be the main character. However, while conducting her research, she discovered the poet’s maid, Margaret Maher, who refused to burn Dickinson’s poems. Brown realized that Margaret had a powerful story of her own. “I knew I had found my protagonist,” she said, “an energetic, ambitious and insightful Irish immigrant. A woman Emily described as wild and warm and mighty and the one I wanted readers to meet.”
Brown describes her meticulous fact-finding regarding this unknown woman who played such an essential role in ensuring Emily Dickinson’s legacy: “I looked into the particulars of Margaret Maher’s life, studying the syntax of Hiberno-English speech, what her childhood in County Tipperary must have been like, and the experience of Irish immigrants in Massachusetts in the mid-1800s.” Margaret narrates the story using this syntax, which the author discovered has had a significant impact on American English.
The first half of Emily’s House focuses on Margaret, whose life does not revolve simply around the Dickinsons. She becomes romantically involved with a charming Irishman, Patrick, who places her in a dilemma. As much as Margaret loves him, she knows he keeps secrets from her and she wants to be sure she is ready to give up her much-valued independence, as well as her friendship with Emily. Patrick is an Irish Socialist, part of the Fenian Brotherhood whose goal is to free Ireland from British rule. Those familiar with Downton Abbey will recall Tom Branson, also a Fenian. Margaret must make an agonizing and life-changing choice that will not only impact her life but many more around her.
THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED, EXQUISITELY WRITTEN
Emily’s House is a book to be savored, every word digested. The first half of the story is slow as Brown lays out the necessary groundwork. However, a rich reward awaits the reader in the second half, which quickly intensifies. My sister and I had the pleasure of reading this book together. Once she reached the second half, my sister could not stop reading and finished the book quickly. On the other hand, I wanted to enjoy every moment, lingering over each page. We both found Emily’s House to be emotionally satisfying because of Brown’s exquisite writing. The book cast a spell on us, remaining long after we finished it. We live near Amherst and cannot wait to visit there. We also want to explore Emily Dickinson’s poetry.
Brown is a master writer of historical fiction. Her research is thorough, and her characters are very much fact-based. But she also takes the proper license as a fiction writer to create a memorable protagonist who opens a window into the heart and soul of a fascinating and brilliant poet. I cherish Emily’s House and cannot recommend it highly enough.
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About Amy Belding Brown:
Amy Belding Brown grew up in Vermont and attended Bates College in Maine. In 2002, she received her MFA in Writing degree from Vermont College. She is the author of the historical novels Flight of the Sparrow, Mr. Emerson’s Wife and now Emily’s House, as well as two light romances. For many years she taught writing at universities and colleges in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She currently lives and writes in Vermont, where she enjoys nature photography in her spare time.
