The Lovers of Amherst (2015)

by William Nicholson

Series: Sussex novels (4)

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"From an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and the author of Motherland, a novel about two love affairs set in Amherst--one in the present, one in the past, and both presided over by Emily Dickinson. Alice Dickinson is a young advertising executive who works in London and dreams of becoming a screenwriter. She decides to take some time off work to research her idea for a screenplay: the true story of a scandalous adulterous love affair that took place in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the 1880s. The lovers were a young faculty wife at Amherst College, Mabel Loomis Todd, and the college's treasurer, Austin Dickinson. Austin, twenty-four years Mabel's senior and married, was the brother of the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson and their trysts took place in Emily's house (with her consent). Alice travels to Amherst, staying in the house of a friend of a friend, Nick Crocker, a married English academic in his fifties. As Alice researches the affair between Austin and Mabel, and puzzles out Emily Dickinson's role, she embarks on an affair with Nick, an affair that, of course, they both know echoes the affair that she's writing about in her screenplay. Interspersed with Alice's own complicated love story is the story she is telling of Austin and Mabel, historically accurate, and meticulously recreated from their voluminous letters and diaries. Using the poems of Emily Dickinson throughout, Amherst is an exploration of the nature of passionate love, its delusions, and its glories. This novel is playful and scholarly, sexy and smart, and reminds us that the games we play when we fall in love have not changed that much over the years"-- "From an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, a novel of two love affairs set in Amherst and presided over by Emily Dickinson"--… (more)

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Alice Dickinson, an aspiring screenwriter, has found the perfect story. Love, scandal, passion, intrigue, and art. Who could ask for more? In 1880s Amherst, Massachusetts, Austin Dickinson, a pillar of his community and brother to the famous poetess, Emily Dickinson, is stuck in a loveless marriage. There is no comfort, no passion in his life. When the young couple David and Mabel Loomis Todd arrive in Amherst, they quickly befriend Austin and Sue Dickinson and Mabel is determined to befriend Austin's sisters, especially the reclusive Emily, as well. Austin and Mabel quickly fall in love, and with David's blessing and the Dickinson sisters' protection, the two begin a passionate affair. Duty, conventions of polite society, tragedy, Sue's determination to ruin Mabel, nothing can separate them now that they've found each other. Protected by Emily, Mabel understands her poetry like no one has before. Upon Emily's death, as a tribute to her as an artist and friend, Mabel champions the cause of getting Emily's work published. As Alice digs deeper into the story of this great affair, will she finally understand what it is that she has been looking for?

Bettina P. / Marathon County Public Library
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mcpl.wausau | Sep 25, 2017 |

This was just awful. Would-be British screenwriter Alice Dickinson (no relation) visits Amherst to research her project: the affair of Austin Dickinson, poet Emily's married brother, with Mabel Loomis Todd, a much younger married woman. She is convinced not only that this was a true passion but that much of the sexual action took place in Emily and Lavinia's house with the sisters getting hot and bothered listening outside the parlor door. And let's not forget that the affair had the approval of Mabel's husband, who liked to watch while masturbating. Alice is invited to stay in the guest suite of a much older married professor--and you can guess what goes on there. Nicholson tries to make a passionate parallel between the two affairs, one of which went on for years while the other lasted a few days. Oh, and let's not forget that on the modern couple's first meeting, his friend tells Alice, "Don't fuck him." I should have known at that point that this book would be a real loser. I'm no prude about sex in novels, but I prefer it to be part of the story, not the reason for it. Nicholson includes quotes from Dickinson's poetry and Austin and Mabel's letters, plus a bibliography, in hopes of convincing his readers that this is a scholarly, well-researched novel. It doesn't work, especially since his modern characters, Alice and Nick, are both silly, selfish, and totally unlikable. Spare yourself the pain of reading this one. (

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Cariola | Jun 10, 2016 |

I enjoyed reading this but found the long ago affair more credible than th present one. It was only when I got to the end that I discovered that his is one of a series of six novels. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read some of the earlier ones because the characters, particularly Jack weren't well developed enough to carry the story. Still, it's enjoyable as a stand alone novel. (

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Jonri | Jul 20, 2015 |

Only the poetry of Emily Dickinson made this book tolerable. I wondered throughout if the author was trying too hard to be clever and over-reached the story of Austin and Mabel. That story alone would have been worth telling. The modern day parallel seemed contrived. I did not find any of the characters truly believable. (

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kellyn | Jun 18, 2015 |

I was more than a little skeptical about this book going in. For one, I'm skeptical about books with real-life writers as characters (I dislike the whole Jane Austen-solves-crimes thing). For another, I grew up in and around Amherst and it can be hard to read about a place you know and love if you feel like the writer gets it wrong — I'm probably extra-sensitive to that, living now in a place that gets written about a LOT. But this book won me over and by the end I was blown away. It's a really thoughtful, interesting take on the role of love in our lives, what we expect from it and what we're willing to do to seek it. I also learned a lot about the Dickinson-Todd love affair, which I'd heard about but always thought was just ancient gossip dredged up because the poet was famous. And I *really* hope Nicholson, an accomplished screenwriter, writes that movie about Austin Dickinson and Mabel Loomis Todd. (

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keywestnan | May 25, 2015 |

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Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction – 2015)

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The Lovers of Amherst

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Amherst

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Amherst

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2015

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"From an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and the author of Motherland, a novel about two love affairs set in Amherst--one in the present, one in the past, and both presided over by Emily Dickinson. Alice Dickinson is a young advertising executive who works in London and dreams of becoming a screenwriter. She decides to take some time off work to research her idea for a screenplay: the true story of a scandalous adulterous love affair that took place in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the 1880s. The lovers were a young faculty wife at Amherst College, Mabel Loomis Todd, and the college's treasurer, Austin Dickinson. Austin, twenty-four years Mabel's senior and married, was the brother of the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson and their trysts took place in Emily's house (with her consent). Alice travels to Amherst, staying in the house of a friend of a friend, Nick Crocker, a married English academic in his fifties. As Alice researches the affair between Austin and Mabel, and puzzles out Emily Dickinson's role, she embarks on an affair with Nick, an affair that, of course, they both know echoes the affair that she's writing about in her screenplay. Interspersed with Alice's own complicated love story is the story she is telling of Austin and Mabel, historically accurate, and meticulously recreated from their voluminous letters and diaries. Using the poems of Emily Dickinson throughout, Amherst is an exploration of the nature of passionate love, its delusions, and its glories. This novel is playful and scholarly, sexy and smart, and reminds us that the games we play when we fall in love have not changed that much over the years"-- "From an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, a novel of two love affairs set in Amherst and presided over by Emily Dickinson"--

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