A "Globe 100" Best Book of 2015, The Globe & Mail
An Amazon.ca Editors' Best Book of 2015
Longlisted for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award
"Miss Emily is mesmerizing from its first pages, a feat made possible only by the pen of a writer of immense talent who connects with Dickinson. She writes from the poet's perspective with utter confidence, without cliche and with the same love of words. A gift indeed." - The Toronto Star
"Nuala O'Connor's lovely novel pulls us in from its first limpid lines and then detonates with an explosion of power - much like Emily Dickinson's poems. The novel captivates with its high emotions and rich images." - Washington Post
"O'Connor brings one of America's most gifted poets to life. [She] is a gifted writer; not only does she bring a believable sense of poetry...and self-assurance to Emily, she is also capable of conveying complex feeling succinctly, a talent shared by her historical heroine. This novel has the possibility of being a book club juggernaut." - Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)
"An original portrayal of Emily Dickinson seen here not just as a lover of words, but as a heroine and friend to a plucky Irish maid who casts a new and sympathetic light on the Belle of Amherst." - Sheila Kohler, author of Becoming Jane Eyre
“I finished this morning and had to write to you straight away! My goodness—what a wonderful, wonderful book. I feel so privileged to have read it; I honestly cannot praise this book enough. Nuala O'Connor's beautiful writing sings from every single page as Emily and Ada's fascinating story unfolds. An absolute joy to read—I will be telling everyone about this book.” - Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home
“Miss Emily is a triumph of a novel, creating an utterly human and believable Emily Dickinson through the eyes of an enchanting and complex fictional Irish woman. Their story is smart and witty and harrowing and brilliantly revelatory of the interplay of life and inspiration in a nascent great artist. And all this is done in prose that has the same condensed, particularizing power of Dickinson’s poetry. Nuala O’Connor has long been one of my favorite contemporary Irish writers. She will certainly find an ardently admiring American audience with this extraordinary novel.” - Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler
“A jewel of a novel, Miss Emily by Nuala O'Connor is a fascinating, heartfelt, and captivating glimpse into the mind and heart of Emily Dickinson, one of America’s most beloved poets, interwoven with the story of her spirited, witty, and devoted Irish maid, Ada. With its luminous prose and sympathetic, realistically drawn characters, you will feel yourself irresistibly drawn into Emily’s and Ada’s private worlds with every turn of the page.” - Syrie James, bestselling author of Jane Austen’s First Love and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen
“A superb novel, I was captivated from the first page. With gorgeous, compelling period detail and graceful prose, Nuala O’Connor reimagines a friendship between one of our greatest poets and her Irish maid. With uncanny insight into the expected portrayal of a servant-mistress relationship, and in keeping with the power and beauty of Dickinson’s poetry, O’Connor celebrates her women with great delicacy and exuberance.” - Kathleen Grissom, bestselling author of The Kitchen House
"Beautifully written and utterly compelling, this vivid portrait of Emily Dickinson examines her humanity, complexity and profound relationship with words. Told in her own eloquent voice and that of her trusted maid, Miss Emily deftly braids together the stories two intriguing women in this highly accomplished novel." - Cathy Marie Buchanan, bestselling author of The Painted Girls
“Nuala O'Connor casts a keen, compassionate eye below the veneer of domesticity to illuminate the passion, pain, and life force behind the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Quietly elegant and moving, poignantly humane, Miss Emily is a rare gift.” - Ania Szado, bestselling author of Studio Saint Ex
"Nuala O'Connor's Miss Emily is evocative, thought-provoking, and beautifully rendered; a poignant portrait of two very different women, drawn together in unlikely friendship by a common strength of spirit and mind. Readers will delight in this richly imagined glimpse into the worlds—both inner and outer—of the immortal Emily Dickinson." - Allison Pataki,New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Empress
