Though she tried not to let it show, why did Margaret care so much about the Dickinson family’s opinion of her?
Put yourself in Margaret’s shoes—would you have burned the poems? Do you think Margaret ever regretted sharing Emily’s work, especially after Mabel’s meddling in their publication was revealed?
Why is it so important to Margaret that she own and run a boardinghouse lodging Irish tenants?
As the Dickinsons’ maid, Margaret witnesses the various romantic relationships that take place, including Emily’s infatuation with Judge Lord and Austin’s affair with Mabel, and Vinnie’s fascination with everyone else’s trysts. How did the Dickinsons’ personal lives affect how Margaret viewed her own love life? Why do you think Margaret never married?
Before reading this novel, what did you know of Emily Dickinson’s life? Did you learn anything new about her life, family, or poetry that struck you?
The title of this novel refers to the Dickinsons’ beautiful Homestead, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963 and recently restored by the Emily Dickinson Museum. What role does the Homestead play in the novel? How does physical space play into Emily and Margaret’s connection?
When Tommy comes back to Amherst, Margaret and Mary are overjoyed to see their brother. What was Margaret’s reaction when Tommy told her that his letter instructing her to stay in Amherst was the Squire’s idea? Why did the Squire trick Margaret into staying with the Dickinson family instead of traveling West? Could you ever have forgiven him? What does Margaret mean by “life was inventing [her]”?
Mattie D., or Madame Bianchi, was left in the lurch by her husband, which forced her to sell the Homestead. When he ran off to Europe, she continued to send him money until she had nothing left. Margaret’s initial reaction is to blame Mattie D. for the sale of the Homestead. What does this say about the position of women in the early twentieth century?
According to the Emily Dickinson Museum website, “Bianchi’s will stipulated that, should [the inheritor or their family] ever choose not to live in the house, the Evergreens should be torn down rather than sold to another owner.” Luckily, the property, like Emily’s poems, was saved from this fate and now belongs to the Trustees of Amherst College as part of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Discuss possible reasons why the Dickinsons would insist on destroying their legacies. Pride? Sentimentality? Embarrassment? Why has someone intervened each time?
Recommended books for readers of Emily’s House
Aífe Murray, Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language (Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2009).
This book is where I first met Margaret Maher, the protagonist of Emily’s House. A fascinating and well-written survey of the people who worked for the Dickinson family in Amherst.
Cristanne Miller, ed., Emily Dickinson’s Poems as She Preserved Them (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2016).
Out of the many collections of Emily Dickinson’s poems, this is my favorite. It’s comprehensive while offering a wealth of information. Importantly, the poems are ordered as Emily herself arranged them in the booklets Margaret Maher hid in her trunk.
Jerome Charyn, A Loaded Gun: Emily Dickinson for the 21st Century (New York: Bellevue Literary Press, 2016).
A new look at Emily Dickinson’s mythology and some of the most interesting aspects of her life, including a section on Margaret Maher.
Martha Dickinson Bianchi, Emily Dickinson Face to Face (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1932).
Martha Dickinson’s biography of her famous aunt, which features vivid scenes, including the one in which Margaret Maher reveals that Emily asked her to burn the poems after her death.
Lyndall Gordon, Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family’s Feuds (New York: Penguin Books, 2010).
A riveting biography of Emily Dickinson and her family, focusing on the second half of her life and the Dickinson-Todd drama that followed her death.
Margaret Lynch-Brennan, The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840–1930 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009).
An overview of the experience of Irish women who emigrated to America to work as domestic servants in the nineteenth century, this book offers important insights into Margaret Maher’s day-to-day life as Emily Dickinson’s maid.
Marta McDowell, Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2019).
A delightful introduction to the flowers and plants in Emily Dickinson’s garden, presented with descriptions that bring to life her daily surroundings at the Homestead.
Paola Kaufmann, The Sister: A Novel of Emily Dickinson (New York: Rookery Press, 2007).
Of the many treatments of Emily Dickinson in fiction, this little-known novel is my favorite. First published in Spanish as La Hermana, it’s a beautifully crafted and well-researched book that offers an intimate view of the Dickinson family through Lavinia Dickinson’s eyes.
About the Author
Amy Belding Brown is the author of historical novels including USA Today bestseller Flight of the Sparrow and Mr. Emerson’s Wife. A New England history enthusiast, Amy was infused at an early age with the region’s outlook and values. A graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, she received her MFA from Vermont College and now lives in rural Vermont with her husband, a UCC minister and spiritual director.
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