Miss Emily

Four TIC members and one guest braved the damp and chilly weather to meet at Anne’s to discuss Miss Emily, by Irish author Nuala O’Connor. The book is primarily set around 1865  in the Massachusetts home of American Poet Emily Dickinson. There is a crisis at the start of the novel – the Dickinson household is without a maid, so the mother and 2 daughters have to do all the housekeeping and kitchen duties. Emily is especially unhappy about this arrangement as she is left with little time to do that which she loves most – get the many words in her head down on paper. Fortunately, help comes in the form of 18 year old Ada Concannon, fresh off the boat from Ireland, who takes on the duties of maid for the Dickinson family. Since Emily loves to bake, she spends much time in the kitchen and, in spite of their significant age difference, (Emily is 38) she and Ada become friends – no small feat for 2 women of vastly different classes in that time! The beautifully written novel alternates between Emily’s voice and Ada’s and moves at a leisurely pace. But when a rough Irish fellow who works with Ada’s boyfriend first stalks and then sexually attacks her, the story becomes full of tension and action. Emily decides to overcome her agoraphobia and become Ada’s defender.

In keeping with the feel of the book, we enjoyed tea in lovely China cups and snacked on homemade cranberry orange cake and chocolates while we chatted about the book. Some research on Emily Dickinson revealed that she did love to bake, did live a very cloistered life, did wear only white later in life and the family did have an Irish maid at one point. The author had fictionalized the story, but it had deep roots in actual facts about Miss Emily.

While no one disliked the book, it did not grab most of us. There was an uneasy feeling that while beautifully written, it was unsatisfying in small ways: leisurely paced all the way through and then moving at ‘warp speed’ at the end; the drastic action taken by Ada’s boyfriend seemed somewhat out of character for him. And of course, the horror of prejudice and blame against a working girl who was raped saddened all of us. As is often the case, our discussion deepened our view of the book’s characters and story line, and – while not loving it – we all liked the book better after our discussion. With 2 emailed votes included, our book rating was 3.4.

We ended our discussion with one of Dickinson’s most well-known poems:

“Hope is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.”

Emily Dickenson