'Wild Nights, Wild Nights' by Daniela Gioseffi fictionalizes Emily Dickinson and 'Master' -- Daniela Gioseffi has written a novelization of what she imagines as the romance between American poet Emily Dickinson and a mysterious figure the poet addressed as "Master" in her manuscripts. The result is her novel, Wild Nights Wild Nights: The Story of Emily Dickinson's "Master," Neighbor and Friend and Bridegroom, published by Plain View Press.
Ms. Gioseffi bases her novel on the claim by Ruth Owen Jones of Amherst, Massachusetts that William Smith Clark, who was a neighbor of the Dickinsons and also a colonel in the Civil War, is the true identity of "Master." Ms. Jones argues this claim in an essay, "Neighbor--and friend--and Bridegroom," published in the Emily Dickinson Journal, Vol. XI, 2, Winter, 2002.
Ms. Gioseffi's 377-page book contains Notes to the Reader, Part 1 of the novel entitled "To Be Alive Is Power," Part 2 of the novel entitled, "Master Clark Returns to Amherst," an Afterword by the Author entitled "Lover of Science and Scientist In Dark Days Of the Republic" (previously published in Chelsea Literary Review, Number 81, Spring, 2007), a Bibliography of Selected References, and an About the Author section.
The true identity of Dickinson's "Master" figure has yet to be agreed upon by scholars, but many people from the poet's time have been advanced as possibilities. In addition to Clark, Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Susan Huntington Dickinson have been explored as has Charles Wadsworth and Judge Otis Lord. "Master" has also been argued to be not a real person at all but rather a blend of figures or a force or a muse the poet addresses within the world of her imagination.
Wild Nights, Wild Nights lists for $22.95 but is available at a discount on Amazon.com.
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Connie Ann Kirk is a published author of more than 10 books and holds a Ph.D. in English. She is currently working on a novel and a screenplay. See all of Connie's National Examiner Arts & Entertainment columns at these pages: Books on Film, Literature, Emily Dickinson, and Young Adult Pop Culture. Feel free any time to also check out her website, www.connieannkirk.com.
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