Flower, Amanda, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”

copyright 2022, Published by Berkely Press

I find that there are just too many writers to keep up with all I want to read, so I have to be choosy. This is particularly true when I enjoy sharing my opinions with others as I do here. I think I’ll be adding Amanda Flower to my read more list, although I didn’t know her until I encountered this book.

Although I am by no means an expert on poetry, I do like it sometimes, and as you have very likely noted already, this title comes from one of the most famous lines written by one of America’s most famous poets, Emily Dickinson. It caught my attention immediately and I decided I had better as least give the book a chance. I’m glad that I did.

Amanda Flower, in turns out, is a fellow Northeast Ohioan, though her biographical details don’t include exactly where her residence is. This adds a bit to my desire to read more of her, but wouldn’t do so if I had been indifferent or worse about her book. She is, by the way, a very prolific author and this is not her only series.

The book takes place in the mid 1850’s in Amherst, MA, Emily’s hometown. It is told in the first person by Willa Noble, a servant in the Dickinson household. We first meet Willa going to the household for an interview with Miss O’Brien, the housekeeper and sort of a chief of servants, and it is she who interviews Willa. She seems ready to refuse to hire her or maybe to put her name on a list of possibilities, when Emily, who has heard some of the interview, intervenes. Gently, bur firmly, she tells Miss O’Brien to stop the series of interviews and to hire Willa who is just the kind of person she wants. She also offers the opinion that her father will like her, mostly, apparently, because she does.

By her opening briefing of Willa, we know this is going to be a tough job in an exacting household. The head of the household, though not often at home, is Emily’s father, Rep. Edward Dickinson of the House of Representatives. He is a conservative Whig, an adamant foe of slavery but a conservative man for the most part, who believes in justice and equality but also in strict order carried out fully. He may not be easy to work for, although he won’t be around too much of the time.

Emily’s mother was Emily Norcross Dickinson, the daughter of a prominent family and a New England lady of her time. She likely was dominated heavily by her husband, but not a lot information of their relationshipo is in the book

The other family member of the household is Lavinia, Emily’s sister, who is depicted as mean spirited, cranky and irritating. I have to give her one thing though, she likes cats, having four of them at home.

So Willa comes to this odd sounding(to us but likely quite typical of the upper class New England home of its time) home and finds a hard time of her own now and then. Her mother has died and her father is long gone. She has a brother, Henry, whom we meet briefly. She is alone in the world except for Henry and has almost no money. She is a lower middle class person possibly about to sink lower in the society and this is her opportunity to turn this around. She does so, but not without struggles.

Her first big problem is Henry, who has a job taking care of horses at a local livery, a new job she did not know about. He will be, he says making more money there. Also, he has plans, big plans, which will make them rich and end her days as a servant. She will be a society lady, or at least something much like it, he implies.

Compared to his sister’s anxieties and depressions, Henry is an exuberant character, full of bravado and enthusiasm. He apparently has had a brush or two with the law for fast and loose business practices, but nothing too serous. Willa does not totally disbelieve he may succeed but has her doubts and, sensibly, knows she must make her own way while Henry plays his games. Maybe he will win–maybe not.

So Willa turns herself to her new job and does her best. Miss O’Brien is exacting but may have an inner core or kindness about her. Emily is a significant presence to Willa flitting about the house, appearing and disappearing, always available in a way, but often not there, apparently in her room and presumably writing poetry. Willa regards her with a combination of admiration and curiosity. One thing she cannot do, at first anyway, is depend on her.

Willa begins to get her bearings about the job and to fit in moderately well, She is often nervous and uncertain about her performance but seems to fulfill expectations at least minimally, maybe more. Then disaster strikes. Henry is killed at work where, the police say, a horse fell on him.

Willa is devastated. She loved Henry beyond anyone else in the world. Now he is gone unjustly, and she is alone, no one but this strict if well ordered household behind her. The police are as comforting as possible, but tell her there is nothing for them to do, for Henry’s death was clearly accidental. The horse must have gone off balance and fallen with unfortunate Henry right beside.

Willa tries to pick up the pieces and go on but it’s difficult. And in addition to her grief she has doubts. Henry had told her a little about the job and it didn’t sound dangerous. She knew he was good with animals and couldn’t imagine anything like this could happen naturally. Henry was not that sort of victim. It must have been intended by someone, who realized they could get rid of Henry and blame the horses.

But why? Who? How did it happen? Emily wonders too, and she takes Willa to Henry’s place of employment. There they speak with Jerimiah, a young black man who is an employee who was close to Henry and to the animals. Though cautious with what he is saying, Jerimiah expresses opinions that suggest he is not certain that the police have this all right. He has his doubts and so does Willa. Particularly she knows that the kind-hearted, animal loving Henry would never have mistreated animals in the way the police allege he treated the horse. Emily is convinced and she and Willa form a team to investigate and find out what actually happened.

The start out as”Emily” and “Willa,” now “friends” to the point of using first names in private and they work together. They try to find out what others know and, perhaps more importantly, what attitudes they express. There are many people possibly involved, perhaps most seriously Mr. Johnson, the owner of the livery, Mr Milner, the postmaster and Mrs Cutter whose bakery shop is in the midst of town.

Of course, this being he 1850’s, disunion is becoming a distinct American possibility and slavery and its spread in the west the main issue. Mr Dickinson is vehemently anti-slavery and is a strong Union supporter. Perhaps most of Amherst’s residents agree,. But the young ladies figure out that there is not total unity. There are indications that runaway slaves pass through town on their way north and that there is a an Underground Railroad “station” there which helps them.

Other words they hear or events they investigate suggest that there is also a different group, people who oppose helping the escaping salves. Some may do this because they believe in obeying the law, even if you disagree with it. The Compromise of 1850(the text never mentions it but this is what happened) included a Fugitive Slave Law which allowed slave owners to send agents north to capture run- away salves and take them back to slavery. There are also, perhaps, some on the same side just because they dislike blacks and even approve of slavery. It is ambiguous and messy as life and politics often are.

There follow difficult investigations an a trip to Washington where Emily’s father serves. On the trip Willa meets a free black horse driver and chauffer named Buford. He is quiet and well behaved, a free man who knows his freedom could be questioned and is careful to carry his proof of freedom with him whenever he goes out. He and Willa seem to develop some feeling for each other, but this of course in beyond thinking. And there is a young police officer, Matthew, back in Amherst who has expressed his affection and passionate feelings for Willa. The ladies do make some discoveries in Washington about their home town and they return home with suspicions but not enough for direct action. definite. But then, after that it all begins to unravel.

This is a good mystery which follows the usual mystery rules of putting out the clues for the reader but never giving away too much. It also makes the story follow logically from one discovery to another, so while the ladies change their minds sometimes, they do so only from good learning and for good reason. The brilliant and somewhat quixotic Emily is the leader of this effort, but Willa plays her role too.

One of the the things that impressed me most about this book was its taking on of American culture pre-Civil War, not only race but class. There is a tendency, no doubt basically correct, that class among whites was a much bigger deal in the South than the North. But it mattered in the North too, perhaps more in New England now to its fifth or sixth generation as a society, than it did in, for example. Illinois, But it may still have had some effect in wild places to the “West,” such as Illinois and Ohio.

In any event, it is ever present in the society of Amherst and certainly in the back of Willa’s mind most of the time. She is very careful about how she addresses people who are clearly her social superiors and cautious not to presume upon Emily’s friendship or her place with such a leading family.

Emily remains an enigma of sorts throughout the book. She is always kind, usually amiable, sometimes one who hides emotions or hides herself from others. She is an open book in some ways, in others always something of a mystery. Not a great deal is made of her poetry most of the time, though there is a quotation of some of the title poem and a bit of reflection on it. Flower states in an Afterword that while she has always been inspired by Emily Dickinson and written about her before, this is the first time she made her a character in a story.

Though Amanda has written nearly forty published books, this series is relatively new. This particular book is the first of the series and so far there are three more, all set in pre-Civil War Amherst according to what I have found on line. If you have the slightest interest in good mysteries, American History and Emily’s poetry(perhaps just one of these would suffice)then you should take a look in your local library. I think you may find yourself very well-rewarded.

Oh, yes-regarding Emily, let me add that there is a one-woman, one-character play about her entitled “The Belle of Amherst.” I saw it on TV years and years ago with the great and lovely Julie Harris playing the New England poet. Merely years ago I saw it again at a local amateur theatre. I was very impressed both times and if you ever get the chance to see it–well, see it, folks.