Mrs.Poe
Lynn Cullen
Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books
Pub Date: Oct 1 2013
4/5 Stars
First I would like to say up front that this book is not Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror. It is probably best categorized as Historical Fiction. The reason I’m reviewing it here, is not only was it a good book. But also because it was mostly about Edgar Allen Poe and his family. Which certainly bares some interest by people who normally read this blog.
The book has a good pace, creates an immersive setting, and certainly the main character is interesting. The book is told in first person, which helps to keep too many points of view from mudding the waters of the story. The only problems I had with the book were spotty instants where the author breaks from the more period speech and throws in some modern slang or in the event where the melodrama is a little much to bear. There is a lot of melodrama in the latter third of this book. At some points the reader is just swimming in it. Considering the fact that many times throughout the book the point of view character makes note of the ridiculous situation or says that they acted in a childish manner. I found it incredibly strange that she never makes comment as to how silly she and Mr. Poe are being. The fact that they act like teenagers isn’t what I would say is wrong with the piece. It’s that they act like teenagers in a 1950s soap opera. The rest of the book was handled so well and with what seems such attention to detail that these parts, while few in number, really break the reader from the immersion, that the author had created. Otherwise, while Mrs. Poe isn’t the type of story I usually read, I certainly appreciated it for being an excellent period piece with some descent meat on it’s bone. I would suggest it to anyone who likes a good thriller or a good piece of historical fiction.
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