Finding Margaret Fuller: A Novel

Shortly before Christmas, Waldo pays Margaret a visit and proposes that she spend the holidays in Concord. He also proposes launching a transcendental journal of which Margaret will be the editor. She accepts the job, seeing it as another avenue to free women’s minds from the limits of conventional thinking. Waldo recruits Bronson, Thoreau, and Nathaniel to contribute articles. Bronson suggests that the magazine be called The Dial. “Because, like a sundial, we shall be an instrument of the light. Like a sundial, we are taking the measurement of our days” (164). Everyone agrees to the name.

After The Dial is published, New York newspaper editor Horace Greeley enthusiastically endorses it. Editing and writing content for the periodical keep Margaret busy. By the time the fourth issue appears, she realizes that she hasn’t been paid, even though Waldo promised her compensation. She hesitates to ask him, knowing that The Dial isn’t yet turning a profit. She thinks bitterly of the literary men in her circle who have alternative means of financial support, while she must be paid to write: “Once again I feel as if the men around me do not understand. I am the sole breadwinner in my life—without wages, I will have no bread. I don’t have an inheritance, nor do I have some husband’s financial support” (168). Just as she is about to write to ask for money, she receives a letter from Waldo informing her of his son’s death and begging her to come to Concord.

When she arrives, Margaret finds the Emerson household sadly changed. Lidian is bedridden and addicted to laudanum. Thoreau is trying to manage the home as best he can while its master and mistress grieve separately. She notes, “I stay in their home. I keep mostly to myself, as they do the same, but I’m there” (173). One day, Thoreau asks Margaret to take a sack of fresh tomatoes to the Hawthorne residence while he tends the garden with Waldo. She walks to the Old Manse, where Nathaniel and Sophia have taken up residence, and finds Nathaniel outside gardening. He seems pleased to see her and mentions that his wife is upstairs resting. As they converse, and Margaret again feels an attraction building between them, she notices a pale, sickly face watching the couple from an upstairs window. Margaret steps away guiltily and thinks, “Why do I always feel like a bane before these Concord wives?” (178).

Upon returning to the Emerson house, Margaret learns that Thoreau has prepared a meal and that Lidian and Waldo will join them for dinner. By dessert, Lidian begins weeping, and Margaret rushes her upstairs. Lidian confides to her guest that Waldo can’t even look at her anymore, as if he blames his wife for his son’s death: “Thoreau makes himself so useful here. And you…well, you are his high priestess. His goddess. His muse. I’m only taking up space” (180). Margaret protests, but Lidian’s only comfort derives from her dose of laudanum.

The following days are rainy, and the atmosphere inside grows even more oppressive. Margaret encourages Waldo to visit his wife, but he accuses her of interfering and seems to want to pick a fight. Margaret goes out for a walk and finds Nathaniel inspecting his rowboat for leaks. He insists that she go out on the river with him to make sure the craft is watertight. As they drift, he reminds her of their pleasant times together and seems close to renewing their flirtation when Margaret spots Sophia and Waldo waiting for them on the shore. Sophia thanks her profusely for accompanying Nathaniel out on the river. Waldo courteously offers to escort Margaret back home. She reflects, “We are all here, speaking to one another. And yet, taking such pains to keep so much unsaid” (187).

The next morning, Margaret realizes that she left her hat and gloves at the Hawthorne house and that Nathaniel will probably call to return them. She doesn’t want to see him and walks through the woods until she reaches the riverbank. As she lies back on the earth, Nathaniel walks by on his way to Emerson’s home. He gives her the hat and gloves and sits down beside her. As they continue their tete-a-tete, Emerson approaches. Margaret hurriedly prepares to leave, and Waldo escorts her home yet again. She thinks, “As it turns out, even we Transcendentalists are making ourselves miserable” (191). She decides that it’s time to seek her fortune out in the world and leave Concord behind.