Emily Dickinson Face to Face

By: Martha Dickinson Bianchi

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Long out of print, a uniquely intimate portrait of Emily Dickinson written by her niece.What would it be like to have Emily Dickinson as your babysitter? In this astonishing memoir, out of print for almost a century, Martha &“Matty&” Dickinson describes the childhood she spent next door to—and often in the care of—her Aunt Emily. We see Matty as a little girl, hiding from the other grownups in Emily&’s upstairs rooms, helping Emily in the kitchen, venturing with her into the cellar for the gingerbread she wasn&’t supposed to have. As Matty becomes a teenager, she finds a confidante in her aunt, who is fascinated by the latest youth fads, school gossip, and the recurring question of what to wear to a party (&“her &‘vote&’ was for my highest-heeled red slippers&”)—not to mention the music, novels, and poems she and Matty both love. From an early age, Emily teaches Matty the joys of solitude and independence: &“No one,&” Emily said, &“could ever punish a Dickinson by shutting her up alone.&” First published in 1932, this is the most intimate record we have of Emily Dickinson, whose death sparked a long family struggle over her work and her image. In a foreword to this new edition, the poet and critic Anthony Madrid provides a biographical frame for Matty&’s recollections, and explains how such a remarkable document could spend so long out of sight.