Mr. Emerson's Wife
Books / Hardcover
Books › Fiction › Historical
ISBN: 0312336373 / Publisher: St. Martin's Press, May 2005
This portrait of a marriage between a young, strong-minded girl and one of America's greatest philosophers joins the ranks of bestsellers like Girl with a Pearl Earring and Ahab's Wife
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On a cold January evening in 1835, Lidian Jackson attends a reception for the popular young philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who is charmed by her principled and independent mind. When he unexpectedly proposes a few weeks later, Lidian must decide if she should marry this brilliant man she admires but hardly knows or remain happily single, devoted to her family and community. The choice she makes is the first of many that will entangle her in the lives and ambitions of an extraordinary circle of New England men and women in the years leading up to the Civil War.Amy Belding Brown examines the emotional landscape of love and marriage and explores the personal choices that lead to the dark silences of life. Disappointed by marriage, Lidian is gradually drawn to the erotic energy and intellect of close family friend Henry David Thoreau. With him, she struggles to negotiate the confusing territory between love and friendship while maintaining her moral authority and inner strength. In the course of the novel, she confronts overwhelming social demands, crippling guilt, and devastating personal loss before she finally discovers the deepest meaning of love.
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