The Letting Go
Page 27
Emily Dickinson and the Labor of Clothing by Daneen Wardrop
Emily Dickinson Face to Face by Martha Dickinson Bianchi
Emily Dickinson, Friend and Neighbor by MacGregor Jenkins
The Gardens of Emily Dickinson by Judith Farr with Louise Carter
The Gorgeous Nothings by Emily Dickinson, edited by Marta Werner and Jen Bervin
Inscriptions on the Grave Stones in the Grave Yards of Northampton, and of other towns in the valley of the Connecticut, as Springfield, Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield, &c. by Thomas Bridgman
Kavanagh by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Letters of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson, edited by Mabel Loomis Todd
The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson by Martha Dickinson Bianchi
Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and her Family’s Feuds by Lyndall Gordon
Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language by Aífe Murray
The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin
The Mother at Home by John Stevens Cabot Abbott
My Wars Are Laid Away In Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson by Alred Habegger
The New England Primer by Benjamin Harris
Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson, edited by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson
The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890 edited by Caesar R. Blane and Carlton F. Wells
The Single Hound by Emily Dickinson, edited by Martha Dickinson Bianchi
The World of Emily Dickinson by Polly Longsworth
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“When we were happy she added her crumb, when we were ill all she had was ours; were we grieved, her indignation was hot against whoever or whatever had wounded us.” Martha Dickinson Bianchi described her beloved Aunt Emily thus, and I hope my dearest gift of a mother-in-law, Ginnie Bottorff, will allow me to apply the same praise to her. Though she is farther away geographically than either of us would wish, her love and generosity find their way to my home every day.
Her husband, Ron Bottorff, makes talking about politics fun and always has a ray of hope to offer on dark days. Her daughter, my sister Mary Cancilla, is a rock star of an aunt, mother, wife, friend, and honorary dragon (though sorely lacking in the beard department).
My husband Dominick Cancilla and son Markus Cancilla did an amazing job of seeming genuinely interested in every bit of research and every step of progress I made in the course of writing this book. Markus was a patient sounding board on numerous early-morning walks; Dominick was always ready to bail me out if I hit a plot snag, or reassure me that I was indeed on the right track. Without them, I might very well have taken the easy way out and let this project go.
Many thanks to all my long-distance writing friends, with a special shout-out to Kriston Sites Eller, Toni Popoki Reed, Sabrina Alexander, Michelle Sullivan Clay, Natalie West, Lauren Ocean, Shannon Taylor Hodnett, Alessandra Giampaolo (please thank Nic for me!), and of course my loving friend and guardian angel Linda Nielsen. (That cookie-klatsch is going to happen if I have to walk all the way to Idaho to make it so.)
If Kat Alexander, Siobhan Wilder, and Siri Wilder think I’m not going to acknowledge their awesomeness in print now that I finally have the chance, they are entirely mistaken (for what is probably the only time in their gorgeous lives).
Lindsey Strand-Polyak is a brilliant, beautiful, sophisticated, educated world traveler. So, yeah, we have literally nothing in common except a love of baroque violin music. I hope to be her student again and am honored to be her friend.
Emily Denver is queen of the known universe. There. Now everyone can stop wondering.
Colleen Otcasek and her daughter Olivia refuse to divulge how they manage to combine so much stunning elegance with an endless capacity for goofy fun. I’ll stop trying to figure it out and just be grateful to have them as friends.
Dear April Walker, Karen Cooper, Efrain Sevilla, Amy Vinroot Wilson, Robin Gonzalez, Adesa Hafford, Jeannine Smith, Barbara Mcminn, and Jeanie Lawrence: “Had we less to say to those we love, perhaps we should say it oftener.” (That’s Dickinson for “You’re totally rad and I appreciate you more than my own words can possibly make clear.”)
Many thanks to Kathleen McKernan Whitfield for always having faith in me, even when I’m running perilously low on it myself.
True fact: Leighann Garber is the only human being more huggable than a hedgehog.
Diana Birchall, did you think I’d forget all that tea and sympathy? Okay—coffee and camaraderie? Thank you for being my friend, neighbor, and fellow Janeite.
Finally: heartfelt thanks to special agent Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary Agency and Rachel Stark of Sky Pony Press.