Why read Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life?

Book cover of Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet

Book description

"A visual treat as well as a literary one...for gardeners and garden lovers, connoisseurs of botanical illustration, and those who seek a deeper understanding of the life and work of Emily Dickinson." -The Wall Street Journal Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of the natural world, but less well known…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Gerri Bauer

Author

Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life adds new growth to familiar portraits of the iconic poet. Eccentric she surely was. But a more complete picture of her emerges from this book than from any Dickinson biography I’ve paged through.

McDowell allows Dickinson’s life story, actions, words, and writing to provide biographical insights through a lens of gardening activities and household chores. Dickinson’s love of gardens and plants is well known. She engaged in the hobby year-round. Like plants need sunlight and air to survive, so did the woman who emerges from these pages. She becomes less the housebound recluse hiding in her…

From Gerri's 3 favorite reads in 2023.