Amanda Flower’s Emily Dickinson series just keeps getting better and better. It’s 1857 and Amherst, Massachusetts is experiencing one of the worst winters anyone can remember. Along with the freezing cold is the fear of chimney fires, and indeed an out-of-control blaze in Kelley Square, the Irish section of town, kills a young family, with the eight-year-old daughter, Nora Rose, the sole survivor. But the blaze has suspicious origins, and Emily and her maid Willa take it upon themselves to investigate. There is a lot going on in this novel, but it is all handled with great deft. Emily’s ongoing reliance upon Willa sets the maid apart from the other household staff, fostering jealousy. The marriage of Emily’s brother, Austin, and his wife,, Susan, continues to deteriorate. Women’s role in society, especially in marriage, is a source of ongoing debate. The future of the now-orphaned Nora Rose, an Irish Catholic girl in a largely Protestant town, and with no relatives, upsets the Dickinson household. Meanwhile, Willa’s own love life takes a dramatic turn. A great choice for book groups, which will appreciate both the book’s breadth and depth. Readers who enjoy this title may also like Mariah Fredericks’s The Wharton Plot and Kate Khavari’s A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons.
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