Good little mystery, vivid characterisation, complex and fascinating setting, and the added believable presentation of Emily Dickinson in her role as precocious young woman of the era, invasive yet private in her interests, reserved yet trusting in her relationships. 

 

This is as much excitement as Emily Dickinson ever had outside of her secluded abode with a person outside her own family. Willa is a smart character, despite her lack of education and opportunity, and we get the story from her perspective as a servant to, and eventual friend, of Emily Dickinson. The characterisation of Dickinson is highly believable, a pleasant surprise. There is a murder, a cover-up, some cheeky banter, a few red herrings and false leads, and the anticlimactic reveal, but the best part about this mystery novel is the setting; the backdrop of public unrest over the issue of slavery is entwined in the story, and a divergent American people are on the verge of civil war. 

 

Running along at an easy-reading pace, the novel satisfies quickly, though I would have been far more satisfied if Emily had been the one telling the story herself. I’m sure that would have been supremely difficult to write, but it would have been stars more interesting to this reader. 

 

Emily does have a selection of insightful and poetic quips she drops into conversation throughout the novel, and those are gems amid a sparking setting. The best part of tasting these few lines and not getting the whole story from Emily’s perspective (yes, I know, it would have been exasperatingly complex, not to mention potentially controversial) is that reading those perspicacious one-liners drives a person to poetryfoundation.org/poets/emily-dickinson to read more… and contemplate… 

 

‘Because I could not stop for Death — 

He kindly stopped for me — …’