â€œI present to you . . . the truth about this manâ€™s death and my life.â€Baltimore, 1849. The body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. The public, the

The Poe Shadow: A Novel

â€œI present to you . . . the truth about this manâ€™s death and my life.â€

Baltimore, 1849. The body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. The public, the press, and even Poeâ€™s own family and friends accept the conclusion that Poe was a second-rate writer who met a disgraceful end as a drunkard. Everyone, in fact, seems to believe this except a young Baltimore lawyer named Quentin Clark, an ardent admirer who puts his own career and reputation at risk in a passionate crusade to salvage Poeâ€™s.

As Quentin explores the puzzling circumstances of Poeâ€™s demise, he discovers that the writerâ€™s last days are riddled with unanswered questions the police are possibly willfully ignoring. Just when Poeâ€™s death seems destined to remain a mystery, and forever sealing his ignominy, inspiration strikes Quentinâ€“in the form of Poeâ€™s own stories. The young attorney realizes that he must find the one person who can solve the strange case of Poeâ€™s death: the real-life model for Poeâ€™s brilliant fictional detective character, C. Auguste Dupin, the hero of ingenious tales of crime and detection.
In short order, Quentin finds himself enmeshed in sinister machinations involving political agents, a female assassin, the corrupt Baltimore slave trade, and the lost secrets of Poeâ€™s final hours. With his own future hanging in the balance, Quentin Clark must turn master investigator himself to unchain his now imperiled fate from that of Poeâ€™s.

Following his phenomenal debut novel, The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl has once again crossed pitch-perfect literary history with innovative mystery to create a beautifully detailed, ingeniously plotted tale of suspense. Pearlâ€™s groundbreaking researchâ€“featuring documented material never published beforeâ€“opens a new window on the truth behind Poeâ€™s demise, literary historyâ€™s most persistent enigma. The resulting novel is a publishing event that, through sublime craftsmanship, subtle wit, and devious twists, does honor to Poe himself

From the Hardcover edition.
Country USA
Brand Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780812970128
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2007-07-10
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780812970128

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780812970128
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2007-07-10
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780812970128

The Poe Shadow: A Novel

You might also like...