Mrs. Poe

"Nevermore shall you wonder what it might have been like to fall deeply in love with Edgar Allan Poe. In 1845 Manhattan, the author was the 19th century version of a rock star, and the poetess who narrates this novel witnesses the smashing success of The Raven even as Poe’s consumptive child-bride languishes. Famous personages, from Walt Whitman to Margaret Fuller to Mathew Brady, make cameos at New York’s literary soirees, its “kissing bridges,” Niblo’s Garden and healthful East River swimming parties. Romance blooms in a city where green meadows are turning overnight into row houses. Lynn Cullen’s Mrs. Poe nails the period."