Title: Nobody's Secret by Michaela MacColl
Setting: Amherst, Massachusetts, 1846
Main character: Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, age 15
Excerpt:
"And whom do I have the pleasure of thanking for my gift?"
He started to introduce himself, then seemed to think better of it. "I'm nobody important." He grinned. "Who are you?"
Emily paused. She was the oldest daughter of one of the town fathers and everyone knew her name. ... How dreary to be somebody all the time, she thought. Feeling very mischievous, she said, "I'm nobody too."
Mystery: Emily's young and handsome 'Mr. Nobody' is in town on some unpleasant family business, but he won't tell her what it, or who he, is. Then he turns up dead in her family's pond. Unknown and unnamed, everyone assumes he drowned accidentally. But not Emily. She suspects he was murdered, and she's determined to learn who her Mr. Nobody was, who killed him, and why.
My thoughts: I wish this book were longer; I would have liked to spend more time with this intelligent, fiercely determined, slightly odd, and independent Emily Dickinson. She's always scheming ways to get out of laundry and baking, and scribbling notes and bits of poetry in her notebooks. And she's a pretty good amateur detective, too. With a little help from Vinnie, her younger sister, and despite her mother's objections and overprotectiveness, she manages to piece together the clues of this engaging mystery. I liked her and her poems more after reading this YA novel than I ever have before. In fact, this book makes me want to read more about her life. The author recommends My Wars Are Laid Away: The Life of Emily Dickinson by Alfred Habegger, but since it's over 700 pages, I think I might start with something a little shorter first.
Happy Reading!
(This would be an excellent book to read for Lory's Reading New England 2016 challenge. In fact, I wish I had read it as my Massachusetts book because I enjoyed this one a lot more than I did The Wolves of Andover.)
I have My Wars Are Laid Away in Books waiting for me but the length is a bit intimidating! I'm glad you found this so enjoyable, and will look forward to encountering Emily-as-detective.
ReplyDeleteIt was better than I hoped it would be. I really enjoyed it. And good luck with My Wars Are Laid Away...I'd love to know how it reads. Some non-fiction, especially biographies, can be so tedious and dull when not written well; hopefully this one isn't. :)
DeleteI looked at several at the Dickinson museum and chose this one because it appeared to be rather provocative (starting with that title). I do hope it will live up to that promise!
DeleteThis sounds very fun! I've always been interested in Emily Dickinson.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. And I know this book is only fiction, but I like to think the real Emily had this same kind of spunk inside of her. :)
DeleteI do love Emily Dickinson, and this sounds like such a fun novel. I will have to look for it. Thank you for the insightful review!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it!
DeleteI'm fond of Emily, so this one sounds intriguing!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of fun...and I liked how MacColl tied in some of her poetry with the plot.
DeleteThe premise definitely sounds intriguing! And I've to learn more about Emily Dickinson. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis book makes you want to know more about her life and who she really was! (At least it did me.)
DeleteIt's so much more fun to find out about famous people when they are portrayed as a character in a book. Sounds like a good read!
ReplyDeleteIt is. So good, in fact, I didn't want it to end.
DeleteThis sounds great! I love imagining the lives of real people, especially at different ages than we usually think of them.
ReplyDeleteAnd this definitely gives you a different view of Emily Dickinson. Plus, it's under 500 pages. :)
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