I didn't make it through this whole book. Unfortunately for me it really started to drag the first few chapters in. I think this is just my experience. I think others would love it.

As the sub-title tells us, the book chronicles ten pivotal moments in Emily Dickinson’s life, ten events that the author claims were integral to her development as a poet and a person. It’s an interesting conceit for a book, rather than the usual cradle-to-grave biography, and overall I found it worked well. The author knows her subject and her research is painstaking and thorough. It’s a readable, accessible and entertaining account, accompanied by some excellent photographs, and I felt that it certainly gave a vivid portrait of Emily and her surroundings. The author obviously feels a deep connection with her subject, which I felt sometimes led to her imagining thoughts that she can’t possibly know if Emily actually had, but this is perhaps nit-picking. I don’t think the book added anything new to Dickinson scholarship, but for anyone not familiar with the poet and her work, this would be an illuminating introduction, and well worth reading.

Great read. Well written. Throughly enjoyed it. Thank you to both NetGalley and publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

Like author Martha Ackmann, I discovered Emily Dickinson at a young age and became obsessed. Drawing from her years teaching an Emily Dickinson seminar at Mount Holyoke and having unparalleled access to the Dickinson home, Ackmann has written a fascinating quasi-biography of Dickinson, Rather than using a chronological narrative, Ackmann focuses on ten pivotal episodes in Dickinson’s life, filling in a lot of gaps on the way.

I’ve read too many fictionalized stories about famous figures—particularly authors—lately, so I was relieved that this was true non-fiction. Although it’s not light reading, it is not difficult to read and very interesting. Where sources are scarce or non-existent, Ackmann acknowledges that some things will not be known. The addition of Professor Ebenezer Snell’s weather observations adds an interesting dimension. These Fevered Days brings new depth to the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson and is a must read for Dickinson fans and will probably create some new fans. #TheseFeveredDays #NetGalley

Many thanks to net galley for allowing me to have a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

These fevered days by Martha Ackmann (2020)

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you—Nobody—Too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise—you know!

How dreary—to be—Somebody!
How public—like a Frog—
To tell one's name—the livelong June—
To an admiring Bog!

Starting with an Emily Dickinson poem feels right when reviewing ‘These fevered days’, a creative biography by Martha Ackmann that just came out. Ackmann, a journalist & author, builds her biography (as the subtitle says) around ‘Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson’.
It’s not easy to write about Dickinson, as her internal life remains even today largely a mystery. Her real life in Amherst Massachusetts (1830-1886) is easy enough to describe. Emily Dickinson, one of the world’s most admired poets, lived all her life isolated in her home. She lived with her immediate family- father, mother, sister- her brother and his wife nearby, a few friends in contact with her through letters. Her poems were not published in her lifetime and were discovered after her death at age 56.

I was fascinated to learn more about Emily Dickinson’s life, as she is one of my favourite poets. I kept thinking- how could someone write about life, death, nature, friendship, loss in this way, confined in a room?

I still can’t answer this question, despite reading this; but perhaps it’s ultimately unanswerable. Still, this biography builds a vivid, rich, ‘alive’ image and narrative of Emily Dickinson’s ‘outside’ life, with the question of her ‘inside’ life remaining a mystery.

This is an excellent biography & I warmly recommend it for anyone who loves Emily Dickinson's poems and wants to learn more about her fascinating life.

When I chose this book to review for Netgalley as an ARC the blurb made me think it would be less academic and more facts woven into a story. Emily Dickinson is a perfect herione for creative, introverts everywhere and I have always been intrigued by her life but I am not a poetry reader.
This was laid out in an interesting way, the author planning knows how to present facts and has a passion and expertise on Dickinson that is easy to see. I learnt many news things about Dickinson and gained some insight into her inner world but I always put this book down in favor of a fictional book. The constant footnotes in the text was distracting but it may only be in the proof version and they have worked out the kinks for the published version.
I imagine for true fans of Dickinson there isn't much new presented here but the author did present it in a new and original way.

This book is so beautifully written an ode a n invitation to her home her life.This was a magical read for me Ia book I will Nye sharing with friends who love Emily Dickinson.Very creative and involving.#netgalley #ww.norton

This book is an ode to beautiful writing — both in its subject matter and in its delivery. A fine reading experience, worthy of exploration for those who appreciate great texts.

What an amazing insight into the life of Emily Dickinson! The research carried out and detail given by the author is exemplary. You really feel you are with the great poet at times. The description of events, locations even the weather are so atmospheric that it really transports you back in time and helps you understand the major influences on one of my favourite poets. This is a definite must-read for all Emily Dickinson fans.

In These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson, author Martha Ackmann takes an unconventional, but truly engaging approach to telling the poet's life story. Instead of recounting her life chronologically and exhaustively, Ackmann focuses on ten formative moments throughout the course of Dickinson's life that shaped her as a person and writer. The idea for the book began with her own teaching, she writes, saying her students understood Dickinson better through these pivotal events. Drawing from Dickinson's letters, poems and various archival holdings, Ackmann has crafted a beautifully written book about the reclusive woman who on August, 3, 1845 declared "all things are ready" and began to write. We see Dickinson as ambitious, self-aware and purposeful in her attempts to reach her goals. We also see, through Ackmann's eyes and pen, a evocative portrait of the world in which the poet lived, with words worth savoring as much as DIckinson's own. A lovely book, all in all, sure to delight Dickinson lovers, and entice readers who may be coming to her for the first time.

An interesting way to structure a biography - episodic rather than encyclopedic - and still does justice to Emily Dickinson's life and development. The writer's intimacy with Dickinson's hometown and home itself is clear in the text.

An absolutely stunning biography of an often chronicled literary figure. Ackmann examines the life of Emily Dickinson through the lens of ten pivotal moments in the poet's life. This tight, well thought out structure gives the narrative a beautiful flow, and sets it apart from the other biographies on the shelf. Ackmann reveals Dickinson as a complicated, emotionally bold, imperfect woman, and contextualizes the major poems with moments in Dickinson's life. Bringing in historical background, from the minutia of the weather in Dickinson's neighborhood on a particular day to the history making events of the Civil War, Ackmann gives as complete a picture of the poet as I've ever read. I found the emphasis on what Dickinson shared with others in her letters compared to the realities of her life to be particularly interesting, and a beautiful illustration of the difference between her rich internal life and what she chose to share with the world.

Review will be posted on Goodreads and Instagram 2/11/20, two weeks prior to release.

This book is an absolute treasure for any fan of Emily Dickinson. I thoroughly enjoyed the description of Emily’s Amherst, her family, her beloved home and her eventual seclusion. Here and there, the episodes of her life are accompanied or illustrated by her poems.

There was a lot about Emily that surprised me, because I had a vague idea of a secluded lady in white drifting around Amherst, Massachusetts in her usual white dress and drawn-back hair. It was a surprise to me to learn of her as a teenager, as a young woman who was required to work hard at housework, and as a middle-aged lady who worked hard caring for her mother.

I also learned, that Emily died at age 55 years, 5 months, and 5 days old! How à propos of her: 55-5-5.... So poetic!

I read this book slowly because there is so much to take in. I found myself wishing I had lived at that time - life being filled with familiar people and events, good manners, letters exchanged, Valentines, visits, etc... But at the same time, I was shocked to learn that Emily had lived through some very hard times too. (I won’t give that away - read the book!)

So, if you love Emily Dickinson as I do, you really should get to know the real Emily by reading this book. Then, take out your anthology of Dickinson poems, and enjoy, once again!

In her Author's Note, Martha Ackmann tells of her first encounter with Emily Dickinson's poetry in high school English when she read, "After great pain, a formal feeling comes--"* Ackmann said she "woke up" and spent a lifetime trying to understand the poem and its effect on her. It's one of my favorite Dickinson poems.

Sadly, the selections in my high school American Lit textbook did nothing for me. When a college friend said he liked Dickinson, I shuddered.

It was Steve Allen's Meeting of Minds that changed my mind. The 1977 episode paired the poet with Charles Darwin, Atilla the Hun, and Galileo. Emily Dickinson recited, "I cannot live with You--" ending with, "So We must meet apart--/You there--I--here--/With just the Door ajar/That oceans are--and Prayer--/And that White Sustenance, Despair."** I stood up to attention. Wait! This couldn't be Dickinson! This was amazing stuff.

I bought her complete poems and soon became a fan.

Ackmann's These Fevered Dreams condescends Emily's life into ten moments that give insight into her life and work. Drawing from Emily's letters and poems, photographs and new understandings, she creates a vivid and fresh portrait of the poet.

Readers encounter Emily's strong, original, and independent mind.

She preferred the struggle of doubt over unexamined certainty, unwilling to profess her faith, regardless of social pressure at Mount Holyoke Seminary.

I loved learning that Emily dove into learning to play the piano, which taught her "style", and how she played late into the night, inventing her own "weird and beautiful melodies."

The vision of a girl with dandelions in her hair taught her how "one image could change everything."

We come to understand Emily's ambition, her life-long love affair with words, her dedication to perfecting her art. She strove to understand the impact of words on others, the responsibility of the writer, and how to remain anonymous while sharing her work. She created fascicles, handsewn booklets of her poems, found after her death.

She enjoyed her costly Mount Holyoke education--$60 a year--learning algebra, astronomy, and botany. When other girls hoped to teach or become missionaries, and of course marry and raise a family, Emily had no vocation but poetry. She returned to Amhurst and became mired in deadly household duties. She did enjoy bread making.

Amhurst is not portrayed as a back-water safe zone during the Civil War; we see how it impacted the community, the shared losses, and Emily's deep anxiety.

I had not known about the vision issue that threatened her sight that brought Emily to Boston for treatment.

Emily's friendships are there: Sue, who married Emily's brother, Austin Dickinson; her school friend and fellow author Helen Hunt Jackson; Samuel Bowles who published Emily's poems clandestinely shared with him; Carlo, her beloved dog.

Emily died a spinster, but she loved the special men in her life.

There was the Rev. Charles Wadsworth, the brilliant preacher Emily met in Philadelphia, "my closest earthly friend" she wrote, and who one day unexpectedly came to her door.

Emily sent poems to Thomas Wentworth Higginson (who with Mabel Loomis Todd, a family friend, and Austin's lover, would publish the first volume of Emily's poetry. During the Civil War, Col. Higginson lead the first Negro regiment of Union soldiers and when wounded was returned home by Louise May Alcott. When they finally met, Emily talked and a dazzled Higginson listened.

Other relationships are cloaked in mystery: the secret love between Emily and her father's peer Otis Phillips Lord, and the mysterious Master to whom she wrote unsent letters.

After Emily's early death at age 55, her family discovered her fascicles of nearly 2,000 poems--and the unsent Master letters. Emily had instructed her papers be burned after her death, but her sister Vinnie could not do that.

Emily comes alive through these ten moments, along with her family and friends and her beloved Amherst.

The book is illustrated with photographs of Emily's family, friends, and homes.

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.