Monday, June 14, 2021

Bibliophile's Corner

Emily Dickinson's 
Gardening Life
by Marta McDowell

Flap Copy Description:
Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of the natural world, but less well known is the fact that she was also an avid gardener - sending fresh bouquets to friends, including pressed flowers in her letters, and studying botany at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke. At her family home, she tended both a small glass conservatory and a flower garden.
In Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life, award-winning author Marta McDowell explores Dickinson's deep passion for plants and how it inspired and informed her writing. Tracing a year in the garden, the book reveals details few know about Dickinson and adds to our collective understanding of who she was as a person.

My Thoughts:
Being a fan of Emily Dickinson's poetry for most of my life, whenever a new book about her comes down the pike, I always put it on my "to-be-read list." This book was particularly enjoyable to me since I am a gardener myself - albeit a "fair-weather one." Marta McDowell not only records an incredible account of Dickinson's gardening life, she also connects it to her writing. I found Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life to be incredibly inspiring. If you are a fan of Dickinson, gardening, or both, this book is for you!