The life of Emily Dickinson

Winner of the National Book Award, this massively detailed biography examines how Emily Dickinson came to see a life filled with horror, exaltation, and humor that infused her poetry.

Richard B. Sewall presents not just the poet and her poetry, but the woman and her life, establishing the context of the Dickinson family while tracing her character, personality, and emotional development across her lifetime.

The work illuminates Dickinson's inner life through analysis of her letters and poems exchanged with significant figures, and includes previously unpublished material about family scandals.