I've read some biographies that are clogged with minutiae, so that you struggle to pull out the overall themes of the person's life. This book has the opposite fault: it is full of information that only indirectly bears on Emily Dickinson's life and work. The first 120 pages are largely a family history, with only bits and pieces specifically about the budding poet. Then when the author does focus more on Emily, it's still more about her environment than about her. Maybe this is partly because the historical record is scant, but this is definitely not the book I hoped for in order to understand the brilliant poet and her work.

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