Austin and Mabel: The Amherst Affair & Love Letters of Austin Dickinson and Mabel Loomis Todd

Great book. Richly detailed, magnificently researched, well-written. This is an Emily Dickinson soap opera starring her brother -- intellectual, lawyer and poor-soul Austin; his working-class, salon-running and ultimately bitter wife Sue, his cute and much younger Bohemian but not-so-psychologically-insightful longtime lover Mabel Loomis Todd, and her handsome, cuckholded-but-understanding husband David. Then there's the love nest next door presided over by Austin's spinster sisters (the spooky one writes, the workhorse cooks), the snarky gossips of Amherst, and the creepy, decades-long emotional battle twixt Emily-Lavinia (then Mabel) and Susan for dear Austin's heart and soul. The only thing missing are LaToya and Joe. You can't go wrong with this one. Wotta mess -- and so lovingly described! It's more than you ever wanted to know about the Belle of Amherst and her dark and squirrely clan. Best taken with a couple of shots of GOOD Tequila.

Emily Dickinson is often a religious poet, and more often than many think, an erotic one. She is famous for her mysteries and contradictions and elusiveness. She died and left more than l700 poems, many almost indecipherable, and a number of them "uncertainly finished." Her sister Vinnie wanted the works to see print, but could not persuade her brother Austin's wife Sue to get the job done, so she turned to Austin's mistress, Mabel, who was also married. This is the lovers' story, told through 13 years of self-justifying letters and diary entries. More importantly, it is the story of how Mabel took on the job of copying and editing the poems to please her lover, and perhaps to irritate her enemy, Sue. Emily became famous about five years after she died due to Mabel's efforts. Polly Longsworth did a fine job condensing love letters and diary entries to give us a picture of these tormented souls, whose relationships all ended badly. The actual love letters between Austin and Mabel clearly show that neither had Emily's literary talent, but both had her passion. Where Emily apparently suppressed carnality, her brother and his "other woman" reveled in it. If you are as fascinated by Emily's life as you are by her poetry, this part of the tale, while largely occurring after she died, is essential to know. A very worthwhile addition to the saga of Emily Dickinson.