Finished reading on 3/25/09:

THE SISTER by Paola Kaufmann, 2007.

I must not have been in the right mood for this novel. It was written by an Argentinian, and is the story of poet Emily Dickinson and her family as told by her only sister, Lavinia. It just did not read well for me. It was rather slow and plodding, although there were interesting tidbits about their lives in Amherst, their brother Austin, the broken love affairs, scandal over Mabel Loomis Todd, Lavinia's struggle to publish Emily's poems after Emily's death, etc. It had its moments, but overall it was not very compelling. Perhaps it was just too literary, or maybe it was the translation, but it was not as enjoyable as I felt it should be.