His pensive quietness, passion, anger and literary genius counter Frances’ poise and Virginia’s jealousy. Fans of 19-century American literature will enjoy Cullen’s depictions of famous literary figures Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott and, briefly, Herman Melville make appearances. Set in the energetic New York of the 1840s, amid the city’s shining literati, the atmosphere of the novel is transportive. Virginia, Poe’s young, sickly wife, appears at first to sanction it, but as the two writers’ connection intensifies, her feelings change. In Cullen’s telling, previously raised suspicions about the two are given full validity as Osgood and Poe embark upon a passionate relationship. Her latest novel follows Frances Osgood, a real-life 19th-century poet and children’s book author, who may have had an affair with Edgar Allan Poe. The Atlanta author is famous for bringing half-forgotten historical figures, such as Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissoula in Creation of Eve, into the limelight through her fiction. Poe (Gallery Books, 336 pages) could change that. Readers may not readily associate Edgar Allan Poe with a tempestuous love triangle, but Lynn Cullen’s Mrs.
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