This is just one of two books (that I’m aware of) written by someone who actually knew and spoke with Emily Dickinson. The other, “Emily Dickinson, Face to Face,” was written by her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi.
Jenkins’ published his book in 1930 – when he was 61 – but it focuses on the days of his youth when he was a friend of Martha “Maddie” Dickinson and how they encountered “Miss Emily” on a daily basis.
Can you imagine having known Dickinson? Jenkins states from the start, “she was different,” and people recognized that “the whole cadence of her being” was special.
Take a look at this passage below.