Amanda Flower: I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died
Emily Dickinson #2
I hardly ever think the second book in a series is better than the first, but in this case, I do. Amanda Flower introduced Emily Dickinson as a detective in the first audacious book. She detects with her maid, Willa Noble. While the first book was mostly about Willa and her family, this one is more a melding of the two women’s lives, centering on a visit by Ralph Waldo Emerson to the home of Emily’s brother, Austin, and his new wife, Susan.
As the story opens Austin and Susan have just returned from their honeymoon, and Emily insists that Willa help them out for the week, preparing the house for Emerson’s arrival. She blithely insists Willa can do her work at her house when she’s finished for the day at Austin’s. One feature of this book, a bit more than the first, is Emily’s lack of awareness of the different life of a servant, and the constraints under which they function. She’s constantly putting Willa into situations where no other maid would find herself and where Willa is supremely uncomfortable. This friction, mostly undiscerned by Emily herself, adds depth to the story.