I just love this book. The book beautifully presents Emily Dickinson's love of gardening and the influence it had on her poetry. It is very well written and researched. The text is accompanied with wonderful illustrations. It will make a wonderful gift. Enjoy

I really enjoyed browsing and reading this book. I have always loved Emily Dickinson's poetry since I first read her works in High School. I've also had a growing and developing love of gardening as an adult. I never knew that Emily was a botantist and so well an educated female scientist for her time in history. It gave me ideas for my own gardens as I like my gardens to reflect wonderful gardeners form the past. Linked with Emily's beautiful poetry and other written works this makes for a lovely book for enjoyment and instructionand knowledge in gardening as well..

Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life is a literary and gardening delight. A must read for fans of Dickinson’s writing.

Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life by Marta McDowell is a beautiful book. The pictures are lovely. I loved learning more about Emily Dickinson and enjoyed reading her poetry mixed into this delightful book.

I wasn't able to access the book via the link, so was unable to read and review the book. The book sounded interesting but not willing to pay for text.

I love Dickinson's poetry and have always been curious about the recluse's life. McDowell offers us unique insight into the poet's garden and how it served as an inspiration.

What an absolutely lovely book! Here, we're offered a detailed look into a big part of Emily Dickinson's life- her gardens. We go through a typical year in the life of the gardens, season by season, with photos of the Homestead and surrounding areas both now and then, details about the lives of Emily, her family, and her friends, beautiful botanical illustrations, excerpts of personal letters, glimpses inside Emily's herbarium, and of course, Emily's poetry, with each poem highlighting the text perfectly. There is an extensive list of Emily's plants listed in the back, to give a better idea of how large her collection was. This is a book to pore over for hours, to savor! Perfect, of course, for fans of Emily Dickinson, but also for those interested in gardening history or the lives of American poets.

#EmilyDickinsonsGardeningLife #NetGalley

An absolutely gorgeous book, filled with historic illustrations of the flowers Emily and her family grew, selections from her dried flower collection, and both historic and modern photography of Amherst and the Dickinson estate. The book is sectioned off into "seasons," a very creative way of organizing the narrative of Emily's life to go along with the seasons her gardens went through. The author peppers the text with Dickinson's poetry and selections from letters that discuss her love for nature and gardening. McDowell's writing itself is poetic and picturesque, providing lots of facts about Dickinson and 19th-century gardening without becoming dry or didactic.

A wide picture is painted here to give the reader a clear portrayal of Emily Dickinson's life, her family, her town, and her friends. Like the flowers and grounds lovingly tended by the poet, McDowell tenderly shows the poet and gardener's interactions with her siblings, family, and friends. Through pictures, letters, and pressed flowers, we see the deep botanic interest Dickinson had - she passes the season through observation, relishing the beauty of the fruits of her work and the land. A charming book for anyone who is newly or already familiar with the poetess and is curious to shed light on what inspired her.

Confession: I have been a huge Emily Dickinson fan forever. In high school, I dressed up like her on her December 10th birthday. Before I met a former boss, I learned she was an Emily Dickinson fan too, and low key stalked her until she hired me (We’re still friends; I wasn’t that creepy). And I planned to name a daughter Emily before the name became popular.

Sooo...I had to read this newly re-released book about Emily Dickinson’s gardening life. I knew I would be hypercritical, but! There was nothing to criticize. It is so beautiful. The poems, the photographs, the archival images, the prose. Oh, and the descriptions of the plants she grew, many of them old friends to me. Not that I could grow them. I live in Georgia, not Massachusetts, and lack a green thumb. It’s amazing to me that her gardens could be so closely reconceived after so many years.

The author chose not to correct spelling or perceived grammar, publishing the poems as they were written, showing that even when random capitalization, dashes, and spelling are seemingly preserved, a lot of changes have been made. I loved this book, and am planning my own poet’s garden. #netgalley #emilydickinsonsgardeninglife #emilydickinson

3.5 Stars

This begins by going through the seasons, opening with Early Spring, and ending with Winter, but separated into more than the four seasons, alone. The author takes you on a literary walk through Amherst and invites you to stand in front of the Homestead, using your imagination to see it as it once was in the mid-1800’s. From here you could see Amherst College and imagine how this landscape appeared those many years ago. Before streetlights, or paved roads, before cars. If you can picture this during a snowy day, you could almost hear the sleigh bells and the sound of the hooves.

I love Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and I have loved gardening when I lived in a place where I had space and workable land to garden. I love the artwork, some of which came from books that Emily Dickinson personally owned on gardening, as well as the poetry of Dickinson included in this book. This seemed like it would be a perfect combination. I loved the passion and enthusiasm that McDowell has for both Dickinson’s writing and Dickinson’s passion for poetry and gardening.

The writing, especially in the beginning, is passionate, effusive, alternating between the history of Amherst, descriptions of the land, and back to gardens, often including a snippet of Dickinson’s poetry – including her first published poem, a valentine.

”Put down the apple Adam
And come away with me
So shal’t thou have a pippin
From off my Father’s tree!”

Included are prints of old portraits, some snippets of Dickinson’s writing, thoughts on gardening, and some advice on gardening. Along with those are descriptions of the changing of the seasons, including the late winter delicacy of fresh maple syrup.

What didn’t work as well for me was the writing after the first half, which was more often lovely as this began, but began to stray from inserting a relevant snippet of poetry or words from a letter written that carried the reader along to the feeling that the point was being pressed a bit too much.

Still, for those who love Dickinson, and particularly those who love her poetry and love gardening as well, this is worth exploring. As a reference tool for gardening, the illustrations from gardening and seed catalogues of Dickinson’s era add a special charm, and would make a nice gift with the holiday season approaching.



Pub Date: 01 Oct 2019


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Timber Press

This is a really lovely book! Anyone who is interested in Emily Dickinson, gardening, or New England/Massachusetts history will enjoy it. Combining photos and details about the plants in Emily Dickinson's garden and her care for them, snippets of her poetry, and a look into life at that time, it is beautifully illustrated and designed and gives a great deal of information. I have a great love of Emily, her poetry, and Western Massachusetts, and this is a perfect book to complement these interests.

Thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for the temporary advance review copy!

This book is an absolute delight. I received it as an e-book from NetGalley (many thanks) but it’s really one to own and treasure as an actual book, one to refer to again and again. I don’t read a lot of Emily Dickinson, although I do enjoy her work, nor am I a gardener, although I enjoy looking at flowers and plants as much as anyone, but this book is something special and I defy anyone not to take pleasure from it. Acclaimed primarily as a great poet, Emily Dickinson was also a keen gardener, loved plants and was knowledgeable about them. In this wonderfully illustrated book, the author takes us through a complete year in Dickinson’s garden, with excerpts from her poems and letters. If you’re a lover of her poems, then you need this book. And if you’re a lover of gardens and gardening then you need this book. And if you’re a lover of both – well, it’s simply essential reading.

Gardening and poetry--who could ask for anything more? The visuals in this book help to truly put an image to some of Emily's more intriguing figures of speech. It also gives a glimpse into what life was like in 19th-century New England. The author has clearly done her homework.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

What a beautiful book - perfect for anyone with an interest in botany, poetry and Emily Dickinson (in general). Emily’s love of herbariums and plants always fascinated me - and align with her fascination with the sublime and the beauty of nature. Dividing the chapters into seasons was a touch of genius. I did my undergraduate dissertation about Emily and her relationship with nature and how this was represented by her life choices. If only this book was around when I was writing it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for the opportunity to review this book. I’ve pre-ordered the physical copy for my own collection!

Beautiful collection of photos, writing, gardening tips, and history. A very interesting collection for Emily Dickinson and gardening fans, meandering through the seasons of the garden with her writings.

I love history and stories of the lives of those who lived long ago. I enjoy Emily’s poetry and now to have so much of her life in one book is a joy. Maybe it is time I have my own “poetry garden”.
Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the advanced read. Loved it. I think I need my own copy for my library

Three books in one! This fascinating account of the life of Emily Dickinson portrays her life long obsession with her gardening and all that she could grow in it. This is accompanied with some of her beautiful garden-inspired poetry and a list of all the plants and flowers cultivated by the Dickinsons. Following the introduction the book is divided into two sections: The Turning of the Year, taking you through the garden in each season starting with Spring, and A Poet's Gardens giving advice on how to create your own. I loved this book and reading it made me want to visit this wonderful place. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher, Timber Press for an ARC.

I didn't know what to expect going in to this book. I'm familiar with Emily Dickinson's work, but not much about her biography (except for a vague idea of her being an unappreciated recluse). This book totally exceeded my expectations.

McDowell not only delves into Emily Dickinson's garden, but how her interactions with plants and her study of botany, a "woman's subject," heavily influenced her writing. Organized by season, each section takes us through the kinds of plants and flowers Dickinson and her family grew in Massachusetts, accompanied by historical information, stories from her life, excerpts from letters, botanical illustrations, and poems inspired by the plants discussed. I particularly loved seeing photos from Dickinson's herbarium, a collection of over 400 plant specimens, dried and pressed into a book. A later section is entitled "Planting a Poet's Garden" and lists hundreds of plants that Dickinson knew and grew--and cites poems, herbarium pages, and letters where they're mentioned! So, this book is not only a well-researched biography of Emily Dickinson and her family, but also a catalogue of how botany and literature intersect. It's fascinating, beautifully-arranged, and incredibly informative.

I love Emily Dickinson and I love gardening this means this book was a sort of Heaven send.
I loved the mix of poetry, text, gardening advice and the lovely pictures.
It must be great in hard cover format and a perfect present.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.