TITLE: MRS POE
AUTHOR: LYNN CULLEN
Pages: 336
Date: 06/10/2013
Grade: 4.5
Details: Received from Gallery Books
Through NetGalley
Own/Kindle
The Blurb:
“1845: New York City is a sprawling warren of gaslit
streets and crowded avenues, bustling with new immigrants and old money,
optimism and opportunity, poverty and crime. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is
all the rage—the success of which a struggling poet like Frances Osgood can
only dream. As a mother trying to support two young children after her
husband’s cruel betrayal, Frances jumps at the chance to meet the illustrious
Mr. Poe at a small literary gathering, if only to help her fledgling career.
Although not a great fan of Poe’s writing, she is nonetheless overwhelmed by
his magnetic presence— and the surprising revelation that he admires her work.
What follows is a flirtation, then a seduction, then an illicit affair . . . and with each clandestine encounter, Frances finds herself falling slowly and inexorably under the spell of her mysterious, complicated lover. But when Edgar’s frail wife Virginia insists on befriending Frances as well, the relationship becomes as dark and twisted as one of Poe’s tales. And like those gothic heroines whose fates are forever sealed, Frances begins to fear that deceiving Mrs. Poe may be as impossible as cheating death itself.”
What follows is a flirtation, then a seduction, then an illicit affair . . . and with each clandestine encounter, Frances finds herself falling slowly and inexorably under the spell of her mysterious, complicated lover. But when Edgar’s frail wife Virginia insists on befriending Frances as well, the relationship becomes as dark and twisted as one of Poe’s tales. And like those gothic heroines whose fates are forever sealed, Frances begins to fear that deceiving Mrs. Poe may be as impossible as cheating death itself.”
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“A writer and his
demons. A woman and her desires. A wife and her revenge…”
If you are going to write a novel about a historical
figure it is hard to imagine a more fascinating person than Edgar Allan Poe. He
of the dark twisted tales, who married his teenage niece, and was apparently determined
to alienate the very people who admired his poetry and tales.
How different a character Frances Sargent Osgood is.
She may be a poet, like Poe, but whereas his poems are created to shock and
scare, hers deal with flowers and are beautiful. No wonder she is surprised
when Poe confesses to admiring her poems when they first meet.
In modern times most people would understand how a
woman like Frances, abandoned by her philandering husband, might fall for a man
like Poe and act on that attraction. In New
York of the 19th century such
understanding was rare. In a time when women still became the property of the
men they married any close contact between a married woman and a man other than
her husband was frowned upon, if not condemned. Although there appears to be,
at least in this book, a double standard in this regard. While Frances
friendship with Poe is cause for scandal, nobody appears to raise an eyebrow at
the way Rufus Wilmot Griswold pursued her.
Before Frances
meets Poe she is convinced she dislikes the man. She doesn’t like or approve of
his poem “The Raven” and fails to understand why it would be so popular when it
is so very dark. However, upon meeting Poe,
Frances can’t
help being attracted to the man, even if it is against her better judgment.
“I knew that I should dislike the man, should fear him, should keep my
distance at all costs. I knew that I would not.”
In the society in which they live their attraction to
each other could never lead to a happy ending, and despite their best, if
somewhat awkward, attempts at secrecy, rumours about the two of them soon
spread.
When Frances
befriends Poe’s wife Virginia
a curious but ultimately dangerous game kicks off. Is Virginia pushing Poe and Frances together
with her insistence on contact with Mrs Osgood or has she a far more sinister
game in mind?
This is a fascinating book. As a story of doomed love
it would have been a great read if the two characters had been fictional. The
fact that both Poe and Frances are real historical figures and a possible
affair between them something which has been speculated about since their own
days, only makes this story more interesting.
Because of the circles in which Frances and Poe moved,
the reader is treated to glimpses of a host of famous names: Miss Louise
Alcott, Mr. Walter Whitman, Mr. Herman Melville, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, to
name but a few, all make fleeting appearances. The expansion of New York City is another
part of the story that makes for interesting reading. It is hard to imagine
farmland and hills where nowadays we only see buildings and flat land. And the
emergence of things we take for granted these days – Morse code and Central Park for example – puts this story even more
firmly in its historical context.
The writing in this book is beautiful. In fact, it is
easy to imagine that this book might be written by Frances herself; it sounds
like a work written by someone who loves words and beauty and has a talent for
combining the two.
This is a heartbreakingly beautiful story about love
and loss as well as a thoroughly good read. The combination of poetic writing
and an at times very dark story-line, means that the reader is thrown from pure
awe at the skill of the author to pure horror about what is actually taking
place. This is a book well worth reading, regardless of whether you’re a fan of
Edgar Allan Poe and/or Frances Sargent Osgood or not.
It is as if
producing a creative work tears a piece from your soul. When it is ripped
completely free of you, the wound must bleed for a while.”
