Wordsworth’s Exquisite Sister

. SYNOPSIS I categorize my story as a biographical novel. It concerns the life of Dorothy, sister to the poet William Wordsworth. She and her brother were made orphans at an early age and the only facts we have of her long life (she died more than 160 years ago aged 85) are from her journals which cover approximately five years, and from some letters which have survived. Therefore there is a certain fictional element to my story. I have studied the lives of William Wordsworth and his sister and made many visits to their various homes in the Lake District. I have attended lectures and taken an active interest in the activities of the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere. The story is told in flashbacks as seen from Miss Wordsworth’s old age when, although she was failing in health both mentally and physically, she still had remarkable powers of recollection. Her reminiscences are interspersed with relapses in her state of health. These took the form of spasms of uncontrollable emotional behaviour which could last hours or days, after which she would resume her thought processes in a perfectly lucid fashion. She remembers growing up from the age of six when her mother died, being moved from place to place and meeting up again with her four brothers after a period of nine years. She recalls in detail a passionate affair she had in her teens with a local farmer which was very soon nipped in the bud by her relations. She never forgot this liaison and eventually resigned herself to the life of a spinster sharing a home with William, the sibling with whom she felt closest. From her late twenties she and her brother shared several places until they found their true home in the village of Grasmere in the Lake District. There she stayed until the end of her days, eventually sharing William with his wife and family. Throughout her long life she lived frugally, ate sparsely and never had very good health. I have used quotes from some of the famous lines of William Wordsworth, as Dorothy knew every line that he wrote. Dorothy’s journals contain detailed observations of her natural surroundings, many of which appear in Wordsworth’s poetry as his own compositions and for which his sister was given no acclaim. I feel that her contribution to many of his lines needs to be correctly attributed. In order that the reader is not confused by the switches in time, I have included dates as chapter headings, where necessary. Other biographers of Miss Wordsworth have speculated what could have happened to the life she shared with her brother. My version is to blend true facts with fiction in order to present an interesting and entertaining story. The title ‘Wordsworth’s Exquisite Sister’ is a quote made by their close friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This is a biography of Dorothy, sister to William Wordsworth and shows how Dorothy may have contributed her own ideas to William’s poetry. Her detailed observations of their natural surroundings can be seen in her journals. Having lost their parents at an early age the two bonded together and stayed together for most of their lives, even after William’s marriage to Mary. I wanted to point out their closeness. The story is told from Miss Wordsworth’s old age when her health was deteriorating both mentally and physically. The title I have chosen ‘Wordsworth’s Exquisite Sister’ is a quote made by their close friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.