Very little is known about the life of Emily Dickinson. As a woman, she is most known as a recluse who lived her entire life in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the home of her birth; as a poet, she wrote some of the most daring and original poetry of the nineteenth century. This verse is often said to be her only contact with the outside world, but not much is understood about the inner world that gave rise to it.

The Sister probes into this world, revealing Emily Dickinson's tense relationship with her parents, her hidden passions and aspirations, the men in her life, and her secret views on religion and love, all seen through the eyes of her younger sister Lavinia. Drawn from authentic journals, documents, and letters from the Dickinson family, The Sister fills in a vital missing piece of the jigsaw, getting us closer to understanding the enigma that is Emily Dickinson.