After Emily: Two Remarkable Women and the Legacy of America's Greatest Poet

by Julie Dobrow

Despite Emily Dickinson’s world renown, the story of the two women most responsible for her initial posthumous publication—Mabel Loomis Todd and her daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham—has remained in the shadows of the archives. A rich and compelling portrait of women who refused to be confined by the social mores of their era, After Emily explores Mabel and Millicent’s complex bond, as well as the powerful literary legacy they shared.

Mabel’s tangled relationships with the Dickinsons—including a thirteen-year extramarital relationship with Emily’s brother, Austin—roiled the small town of Amherst, Massachusetts. After Emily’s death, Mabel’s connection to the family and reputation as an intelligent, artistic, and industrious woman in her own right led her to the enormous trove of poems Emily left behind. So began the herculean task of transcribing, editing, and promoting Emily’s work, a task that would consume and complicate the lives of both Mabel and her daughter. As the popularity of the poems grew, legal issues arose between the Dickinson and Todd families, dredging up their scandals: the affair, the ownership of Emily’s poetry, and the right to define the so-called "Belle of Amherst."

Utilizing hundreds of overlooked letters and diaries to weave together the stories of three unstoppable women, Julie Dobrow explores the intrigue of Emily Dickinson’s literary beginnings. After Emily sheds light on the importance of the earliest editions of Emily’s work—including the controversial editorial decisions made to introduce her singular genius to the world—and reveals the surprising impact Mabel and Millicent had on the poet we know today.

Genres: Biography, Poetry, Nonfiction, History, Writing, Books About Books, Audiobook

384 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2018

About the author

Julie Dobrow is a biographer, professor and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Tufts University. Her writing has appeared in publications such as the Boston Globe Magazine and the Huffington Post. She lives outside of Boston.

Reviews

[Rita Ciresi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew that so much melodrama--jealousy, intrigue, extramarital affairs, real-estate wars, sibling rivalry, and ongoing mother-daughter tension--was behind the publication of Emily Dickinson's work? AFTER EMILY reads like a soap opera. But what a great piece of literary scholarship this is--shedding so much light on the mother/daughter team who worked so hard to bring Dickinson's poetry into the world. I really admired author Julie Dobrow's treatment of this material and her meticulous research into the lives of Mabel Loomis Todd and Millicent Todd Bingham. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Emily Dickinson, authorship, editorial work, librarianship, and publication history.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title of this book suggests, this is not a biography of Emily Dickinson herself. Instead, it’s the life stories of the mother-daughter pair who were early editors of Emily Dickinson’s poetry – Mabel Loomis Todd and Millicent Todd Bingham.

You may wonder why the author chose to write about these two little-known women, but after finishing it, you’ll know why. Since both of them were way ahead of their time when it came to pushing beyond the conventional roles prescribed for women, they were interesting people in their own right.

But more importantly for fans and scholars of Emily Dickinson, they were also the ones most responsible for making this reclusive poet’s work available to the public; re-shaping the popular image of her; and interpreting her legacy.

The first half of the book is undoubtedly the most interesting because it reads like a soap opera. Who knew there was so much controversy involved in the pre-publication history of Dickinson?

Extra-marital affairs, family feuds, real estate quarrels, lawsuits, courtroom dramas, mental illness, dysfunctional family relationships, a secret locked chest full of poems and letters – it almost sounds like something you’d read in a popular fiction novel, except that it all actually happened.

The latter part of the book drags because it’s excessively wordy. Until you get to the last chapter, which is a good summary of both women’s lives; their complex relationship with each other; and how this influenced their perception of Emily Dickinson’s art.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story about a mother and daughter whose lives were intertwined with Emily Dickinson and who devoted their lives to editing and publishing her poems. Extramarital affairs, mental illness, lawsuits, unconventional marriages, a hidden box of unpublished poems ... this book has it all.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dobrow's wonderful book is a tale of many women. Behind the action, off stage but still central, is the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, who leaves crates of papers and poems to her sister, Lavinia, after her death. Lavinia enlists the help of Mabel Todd Loomis, neighbor, socialite, a writer and artist herself--and also, incidentally, the lover of Emily's brother Austin--to edit and publish Emily's poems. The story of how Mabel undertakes this task amidst her many other accomplishments and interests is a fascinating historical narrative, a biography of a time and place as well as of a truly talented and ambitious woman, and a warm, insightful study of how literary legacies are made.

Mabel is relentlessly self-absorbed, profoundly assured of her own unique gifts, and secure in her special belovedness to Austin, with whom she shares an epic, poetic sort of passion that transcends time and death. Dobrow's reading of Todd's journals, diaries, publications, and manuscripts is thoughtful and thorough; she lets Mabel speak in her own words, and despite her faults, it's difficult not to love and feel fascination for this force of nature. But Dobrow also paints a fuller picture by consulting Austin's diaries as well and bringing in, wherever possible, the thoughts and feelings of other principal characters--including Austin's wife and Emily's friend and sister-in-law, Sue.

The competition over Emily's legacy is then bequeathed to the respective daughters. Millicent Todd Loomis, Mabel's only child, leaves her career as a promising scientist to take up the bequest her mother leaves her: a trunk of writing Millicent has never opened because of arguments with Mattie, Sue's daughter and Emily's niece, over who has the real rights over Dickinson's poems. Dobrow recounts Millicent's life adventures, her travels, her studies, her ambitions, her dreams, her trials in love and publishing, with tender compassion and perceptive care in a way that is wonderful to read. Beyond that, she sorts out the tangled history of competition, maneuvering, and one-upmanship between the various libraries trying to secure their own legacies by bringing the Dickinson papers into their archives, which explains why Emily's papers are scattered now all over the eastern seaboard.

In Dobrow's deft handling, the various threads of lives, books, publishing houses, and personalities emerge in clear, three-dimensional life. This is aided by the appealing and revealing photographs throughout. It's such a joy to read deep, thoughtful scholarship that does credit to the historical context--including its attitudes toward women--as well as making each detail clear and distinct, while still moving the narrative along with human insights and precise, buoyant prose. Even if you don't adore Emily Dickinson, the lives of Mabel and Millicent, brought to vivid life, will leave an impression on you.

Read the rest of this review at femmeliterate.

[Asia Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little unsure of whether or not I would enjoy this book since it’s about what happens AFTER Emily after all, and she’s the one who I’ve always loved and wanted to learn about. But it turns out that much of this well-written and detailed biography reads like a novel. And I’m fairly certain I would be thrilled to read a novel about a highly intelligent, artistic, and worldly socialite’s efforts to publish some of the greatest American poetry, her astronomer husband of ebbing sanity, and her highly educated and socially awkward daughter. And the fact that I wasn’t aware of just how interesting the Todd family was before reading this book makes it so much better. I was able to learn so much.

Not only does After Emily take the reader through the story of how Emily’s poems came to be first edited and published, but it also spans about a century of history. From carriages and daguerreotypes through both World Wars and Vietnam all the way to space probes, it was fascinating to move through that much history even independent of the book’s specific subjects and I am NOT a history buff.

A few other reviews have mentioned, and I would agree, that the latter part of the book feels a bit laggy and that is because Millicent as a character was quite a bit less vivacious than her mother. But I would advise reminding yourself that although she maintained more puritanical viewpoints than her mother and she was much less sexually liberated, many of her accomplishments were still radical for women of her time and that is absolutely worth noting.

I did get lost a few times in the order of events when Dobrow would sometimes deviate from chronology to talk about things in order of relevance instead. Not that this isn’t a valid way of writing biography, but given the wide scope of this particular book, I think sticking with strict chronology would have been safer.

Overall, I would say this is by far one of the strongest historical biographies I’ve read and I was blown away by the amount of research and primary resource material was used to tell this until-now brushed over story. This is an essential part of the history of Emily Dickinson and ought to be required reading for any of Emily’s most devoted fans.

[Gina Dalfonzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched and fascinating story, yet a little dry. Dobrow had some very colorful characters here (Mabel Loomis Todd was a piece of work!) -- I can't help thinking she might have made more of them. Also, I'm not sure she distanced herself enough from Mabel's point of view, especially about Sue Dickinson. (If some woman were poaching my husband and badmouthing me, as Mabel did to Sue, I'd probably be snippy too!) Of course the great irony is that the poacher and badmouther should turn out to be far better at editing and promoting Dickinson's poems than the sister-in-law, but again, Dobrow doesn't fully bring out all that intriguing irony. I guess that's not the book she wanted to write, but it was the book I wanted to read!

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the fall of 1883, it was the dirty little secret that everyone in the small college town of Amherst, Massachusetts seemed to know. Beautiful, young and ambitious Mabel Loomis Todd was in love with Austin Dickinson, scion of a venerable old New England family. Mabel once wrote in her journal of their relationship, “I have read a great many stories, and I have had a good many love letters, and I have heard a good many lovers talk, but I never heard or read or imagined such a wonderful…or so divine a love as he has for me. No souls were ever so united, no love story approaches it.” But Mabel and Austin were married – to other people. Austin, who was almost three decades older than Mabel, was also the brother of the reclusive and brilliant Emily Dickinson. Mabel came to know Emily through her relationship with Austin. And she came to know Emily’s unique poetry. After Emily died it was Mabel who first brought Emily’s poetry to print, Mabel who conceived an original plan to market the unusual verse and Mabel who launched the image of the secluded poet garbed in white we still know today.

What we don’t know is the story of the ways in which Mabel’s controversial work editing and promoting Emily’s poetry figured into a complicated web of relationships between members of the Dickinson family and the Todds that lasted for generations. After Emily is a mother/daughter biography of Mabel and her only child, Millicent Todd Bingham. This book tells the story of Mabel’s thirteen year-long love affair with Austin and how this relationship led her to the Emily Dickinson work that defined her career and her life. Their relationship also complicated Mabel’s already complex relationship with Millicent, especially when, years after Austin had died, Mabel turned to Millicent and asked her for help in bringing out a new edition of Emily’s poetry and letters to mark the centenary of her birth. The multifaceted passions in both Mabel and Millicent’s lives ultimately resulted in controversies over the editing and ownership of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, in her papers being split up, and in battles over the right to define the so-called “Belle of Amherst.” This is a story that has never before been fully told, but it has, by other authors. This book differs in that it tracks Mabel's life in more detail following her departure from Amherst, as well as more of an in-depth analysis of her daughter Millicent's life. Such a strange, sad tale.

[Stuart Endick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This thorough and excellent dual biography of Mabel Loomis Todd and her daughter Millicent Todd Bingham illuminates the circumstances that brought the hidden achievement of America’s greatest poet, Emily Dickinson, to the world, as well as the scandal and feud that delayed full publication of Emily’s poems and letters and split the possession of the original manuscripts to this day. The book is a corrective to the historical and literary injustice that has denigrated Mabel’s significant achievement in editing Emily’s many hundreds of brilliant but difficult unpublished manuscript poems and letters. Due to her efforts with co-editor Thomas Wentworth Higginson the early editions of the poems were an astonishing success, selling “like hotcakes.” But after the sudden death of Emily’s brother Austin, with whom Mabel was in a long committed relationship (with the consent of her husband), the Dickinson family embarked on a campaign to deny Mabel both compensation and credit for her work, including a spiteful lawsuit whose outcome seemed determined not by the facts but by local prejudice over the scandal. Decades latter continuing assertions of copyright by Emily’s niece impeded Millicent’s heroic efforts to edit and publish the remaining Dickinson poems in her possession, even after the niece passed away and the asserted rights were acquired through purchase and donation by Harvard. All this is fascinating reading including interesting biographical details about the Todd family and relations. However, the author’s extended character analysis, especially of Millicent, is at times far too drawn out and speculative, and would have been better if trimmed and tightened. Similarly TMI details about Millicent’s romantic disappointments that were irrelevant to her involvement with Emily Dickinson could have been abbreviated as well as the more grotesque and cringeworthy aspects of Mabel’s husband David Todd’s severe mental illness. But overall this is a very worthwhile read, especially for Emily Dickinson enthusiasts.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I have wondered about Emily Dickinson a time or two, for the most part I am not all that interested in fathoming out poetry. I, by far, prefer history to poetry. Julie Dobrow’s biography of Mabel L. Todd and her daughter Millicent T. Bingham gave me what I personally wanted, history, and what I wasn’t looking for a desire to give Emily Dickinson’s poetry a try.

After Emily is fascinating biography. There’s interesting Women’s History, particularly in the late nineteenth century. There’s the personal history of two women who kept diaries, journals, and lists. There’s the history of a place, Amherst, Massachusetts. There’s history steeped in mythology and misunderstandings about the members of the Dickinson and Todd households. There’s even political history concerning the deposition of Emily’s papers between Harvard and Amherst College. There’s other historical information about scholarship, publishing, astronomy, travel, academia, etc. All of this made After Emily quite a great read. On top of that there’s romance and controversy.

It must have been a monumental task to familiarize herself with the lives of not one but two women who saved so much of the papers of their lives. These were women who had never been studied by biographers until Dobrow began to do so. Moreover, these were women who were portrayed by both admirers or detractors and by almost no neutral people. Dobrow had her work cut out for her. And I think she did a commendable job. Oh, there were times I wondered if she might have become biased towards the Todd women from reading all those diary entries, but overall I think she undertook an incredible task and did it very well. I highly recommend this book.

I listened to this biography and feel the narrator read well.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads giveaway book, and am I ever appreciative to Goodreads for being able to add this scholarly work to my own collection. I envision being able to refer back to it anytime I want to fact check against other Emily Dickinson studies.
I honestly didn't understand what I was getting into. I hadn't heard about Mabel Loomis Todd and her daughter Millicent Todd Bingham before reading this, or if I had, I didn't pay much attention to them. I certainly didn't know about the pivotal role each played in introducing Emily Dickinson's life and works to the world. I also wasn't aware of their tangled relationships with the Dickinsons.
The only drawbacks, if I can call them that, were it could be dry in parts, leading this not to be a quick read for me; And sometimes the author repeated herself. But other than that, this is a very important reference tool for Dickinson scholars and amateurs alike.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The material on Mabel Loomis Todd was fascinating; she sounds dreadful but compelling—the affair w Austin, the moonlit sleigh rides, the flirtations w the supernatural, the jaunts to Japan w her astronomer husband to see eclipses that invariably clouded over, the fights w Sue and Mattie Dickinson, and So. Much. More. Millicent Todd Bingham isn’t nearly such good company, poor thing. Todd the Elder’s work marketing and helping to create the Emily persona we all know was v illuminating; Millicent’s kvetchy, dutiful slog to publish the last of her poems, not so much (the last few chapters were rough going as Millicent endlessly agonized over where the papers should go).

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of who asked whom to do what with Emily Dickinson’s manuscript poems might give us one explanation for why the poet wanted to shut the door on her divine Majority and be Present no more. Mabel Loomis Todd, another soul at the white heat, and her daughter, Millicent, battle it out with Emily’s equally driven sister-in-law Sue and then HER daughter, Mattie, for very complicated reasons that make for very engaging reading.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would actually give this a 3.5, if it were an option, primarily because I found parts of it fascinating and other parts tedious and excessively wordy. The “story behind the story” concept was interesting to a point, and if Mable’s depiction was honest and accurate, then this has all the makings of a Hollywood style biopic! A negative aspect of the audio version was the extremely slow, almost tedious pace of the reader; I had to speed up the recording in order to get through it.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tangled history of the publication of Dickinson's poems and letters is fascinating and well written. Dobrow did a remarkable job sorting and presenting the facts and documentation. While the author clearly identifies speculation and inference, she provides documentation to support various points of view. I found this story about the work of Mabel Todd Loomis and her daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham very engaging and an excellent piece of nonfiction.

[Paul Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I read in the review that prompted me to buy this book. The book is well written and researched, but it's about these two women who are a footnote in history. I was expecting a behind the scenes look at Dickinson's poetry, all I got was a few snippets. The Todd mother and daughter, the subjects of the book, to my mind weren't remarkable and weren't worth the time I spent on the book.

[Laurabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a kick of biographies lately.

This story is fascinating if you have any interest in Emily Dickinson's poetry. The lives of this mother and daughter who first published her work almost don't seem real.

I didn't care for the author's personal input for interpreting the moral facts (a thirteen year-long affair is NOT ok even by "modern" standards) but she did an excellent job compiling and relaying the overall narrative from her mounds of research.

Amherst, here I come!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so well done--the amount of research the author did for this boggles the mind. And yet it was so readable. Emily Dickinson is my favorite poet, and I've read bios of her that mentioned the Todd women, but did not know very much of the story at all! Very glad to have read this--a must for Dickinson fans.

[Gigi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my kind of book. It read like a research paper, footnotes and all, with a great need for editing. Maybe I would’ve liked it as a magazine article, but no way did this story require 400+ pages. I eventually skipped to the last two chapters and even that was tedious. I am not a fan of nonfiction authors who feel it necessary to provide every date, day of week, and other uninteresting details.

[Will Weprich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book five stars only because the website does not permit one to give ten stars. It is a must read for anyone interested in Dickinson, biography, the changing role of women or the relationships of parents with their children. I would love to see a full treatment of After Emily done by the BBC or PBS.

[Sally Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure what possessed me to read this, and the undertaking wove in and out of the better part of two years. While the scholarship was excellent and intriguing, there were forays into the drier parts of academia which rather slowed things down on occasion. For the greater part, a most rewarding read.

[Meredith Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tale of a mother and daughter and their incredible impact on the world's access to and understanding of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Mabel Todd's life is almost unbelievable for a woman of her time while Millicent Todd Bingham, whose life was tragically impacted and circumscribed by her mother's choices, yet lives her life fulfilling her mother's destiny. Excellent and compelling.

[Sara Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating story for those interested in the stories of little-known women, the process of biography and battles over literary legacies. DoBrow has done much to advance scholarship about the life of Emily Dickinson through her meticulous research into the lives of Mabel Loomis Todd and her daughter, Millicent Bingham.

[Marguerite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was looking forward to reading this book. I don't like the family involved with the Dickinson's though; thought they were very shallow. But.... if not for them we might not have all of Emily Dickinson's poems. Would recommend.

[Tamara Willems · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a fantastic, absorbing, completely mesmerizing, in depth, illuminating, thoroughly engaging book! I absolutely loved every little detail - the subjects, the research, the insights, the telling - Fantastic!!

[Olivia Loving · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!! This deserves wayyy more attention & ratings. Its author is brilliant. She clearly wrote the best recent book on Emily Dickinson & those in her orbit. 'After Emily' did not rise to prominence because of catchier/flashier -- but not more informative or interesting -- books and media.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually did not finish this book with forty-some pages to go. It's way too long with too much peripheral stuff. I thought the first and middles sections were the best and the latter half a slog.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ Stars

[Christine Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who edited Emily Dickenson's poems. Learned what a recluse Emily was but mostly about the women who edited her poems after her death - not exactly what I thought this book would be about.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story, truth is stranger and more colorful than fiction!

[Robert Gluck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping, fascinating account. Very well written.