And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard (review)

Emily Beam has been sent to boarding school in Amherst to recover from her boyfriend’s suicide, but it soon becomes apparent that there is much more to their story. Although she and Paul only went out for four months, their relationship has left her forever changed, mostly because it came at a time when they were both leaving childhood behind but were still tragically unready for the consequences of decisions that would force them into adult roles. At a boarding school resurrected on the grounds of Emily Dickinson’s alma mater, Emily finds new friends and new enemies, but mostly she finds poetry; poems spill compulsively from her pen as she sorts through memories and regrets. Her roommate, K.T., becomes a strong but sometimes intrusive ally, as does another girl who forces her into situations that are uncomfortable but ultimately contribute to the healing she needs. Hubbard’s language caresses the reader with both imagistic and sonic loveliness, incorporating lines from Dickinson’s poetry that propel Emily’s insights at various moments and prompt poems of her own that catch at the throat as they chart her path through mourning. Clearly, she’s grieving much more than the loss of Paul; her specific losses and their recompense become universally recognizable as the process of growing up itself, but as with so much of Dickinson’s poetry, they inspire thoughtful reflection more than nostalgic or sentimental tears. Emily is a sharp-witted thinker’s girl surprised by feeling, a character worthy of Dickinson’s formidable legacy.