Called Back

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A mystery/romance novel written by Englishman Frederick John Fargus under the pseudonym Hugh Conway. The book, widely popular at the time that it was written in the late 19th century, made a significant impression on the life of American poet Emily Dickinson in her late life. It so impressed upon her that days before her death in May of 1886, she wrote what is believed to be her final letter to her cousins, simply: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily." Her gravestone in Amherst, MA reads:

EMILY DICKINSON
BORN
DEC.10,1830
CALLED BACK
MAY.15,1886

Eerily, Frederick John Fargus died on May 15, 1885, exactly one year earlier to the day than Emily Dickinson. One might point to this coincidence as the inspiration for Dickinson's final letter, however she could not have known the precision with which her end would align itself with Fargus', as she fell into a coma on the 13th.