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Book Club column: Don't judge book by its bland cover

“Oh, chimerical, perplexing, beautiful words! I love to use the pretty ones like blades and the ugly ones to console. I use dark ones to illuminate and bright ones to mourn.
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Miss Emily

“Oh, chimerical, perplexing, beautiful words! I love to use the pretty ones like blades and the ugly ones to console. I use dark ones to illuminate and bright ones to mourn. And when I feel as if a tomahawk has scalped me, I know it is poetry then and I leave it be.”

Author Nuala O’Connor’s lyrical language brings poet Emily Dickinson alive in Miss Emily. 

And although Emily Dickinson’s poetry is held in high regard, her world is surprisingly small. Reclusive and private, 36-year-old Emily is reluctant to leave her home.

Emily is close to her family: her mother, father and sister Vinnie, whom she still lives with, and her brother Austin who lives next door. Austin’s wife, Sue, is Emily’s best friend (although Emily’s feelings for Sue run far deeper than friendship). 

Emily’s entire world is close at hand and she likes it that way.  

But, enter Ada Concannon, an 18-year-old Irish servant. Ada has left Ireland in search of work and adventure. 

She’s a capable maid and cook, and she opens up Emily’s world. Emily often spends her time in the kitchen baking with Ada and observes with awe as Ada falls in love with an attractive young Irishman, Daniel Byrne.

Told in alternating chapters from the perspective of Emily and Ada, Miss Emily surprised me in its ability to pull me in despite its bland cover. 

The descriptions of 19th century Amherst, Massachusetts, and Ada’s reflections on Dublin and the Irish countryside evoke the period beautifully.

But the story begins to shift as Ada catches the attention of the gruff Patrick Crohan, a colleague of Daniel’s. 

As love between Daniel and Ada grows, Patrick’s behaviour becomes progressively more sinister, foreshadowing a horrifying crime as suspense builds.

 Miss Emily is a story of friendship and courage, and is almost entirely about women: their passions and their fears. 

Christine McCrea is a librarian at Richmond Public Library. Reading advice at YourLibrary.ca/GoodBooks.