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Title details for The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl - Available

The Poe Shadow

by Matthew Pearl
Erik Singer
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
INCLUDES MATTHEW PEARL'S EXCLUSIVE AUDIO AFTERWORD ON THE TRUTH BEHIND POE'S DEATH!

Baltimore, 1849. The body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. Everyone seems to accept the conclusion that Poe was a second-rate writer who met a disgraceful end — except for a young Baltimore lawyer named Quentin Clark, an ardent admirer who puts his own career and reputation at risk in a crusade to salvage Poe's.

As Quentin explores the puzzling circumstances and unanswered questions of Poe's demise, he realizes that he must find the one person who can help: the real-life model for Poe's brilliant fictional detective character, C. Augustine Dupin, the hero of ingenious tales of crime and detection. Soon Quentin finds himself enmeshed in sinister machinations involving international political agents and the lost secrets of Poe's final hours, and must himself turn master investigator to escape Poe's grisly fate.

Drawing on original, groundbreaking research, the bestselling author of The Dante Club has once again crossed literary history with sublime craftsmanship and devious twists to create a beautifully detailed, ingeniously plotted tale of suspense.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 23, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780743555807
      • File size: 423728 KB
      • Duration: 14:42:45

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      There's a mystery surrounding Edgar Allan Poe's death. Quentin Clark, lawyer and Poe devotee, risks his legal practice and his engagement to solve it, hoping to reverse the author's reputation for drinking and debauching. Clark discovers that C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's detective creation, is modeled after a real person, so he's off to Paris to find him. Erik Singer's understated performance resonates with credibility. Villains are thwarted and the truth uncovered using ratiocination, and Singer makes the first-person account completely plausible. He reads Matthew Pearl's blend of history and fiction with assurance. His phrasing and pronunciation reflect an excellent grasp of period diction, and his accents--American, British, and French--ring true. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 1, 2006
      Pearl's second historical thriller involving literary figures (after 2003's The Dante Club) is set in 1849, when young lawyer Quentin Clark's desire to burnish the tarnished reputation of his favorite author-poet, the recently deceased Edgar Allan Poe, drives him to such extremes he eventually winds up on trial for insanity and murder. His defense forms the novel. Singer provides Clark with a splendidly appropriate voice: young, intelligent, yet naïve and idealistic. He's also adept at capturing the attorney's shifting moods, from his indignation at journalists' shoddy sendoff of Poe (labeling him a debaucher and drunk) to an increasing obsession as he puts his practice and his impending marriage on hold, ocean-hopping to Europe to seek the aid of the real-life model for Poe's genius-sleuth, C. Auguste Dupin. Some listeners may raise an eyebrow at Singer's use of fractured French for one of the Dupins and an equally arch British accent for the other. They should be reminded that all of the characters are being filtered through the sensibilities (and vocal capabilities) of a not terribly sophisticated Baltimore barrister. Simultaneous release with Random House hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 13).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 13, 2006
      Fans of Pearl's bestselling debut, The Dante Club
      (2003), will eagerly embrace his second novel, a compelling thriller centered on the mysterious end of Edgar Allan Poe, who perished in Baltimore in 1849. Poe's ignominious funeral catches the notice of Quentin Clark, a young, idealistic attorney, who finds himself obsessed with rescuing Poe's reputation amid rumors that the writer died from an excess of drink. Clark's preoccupation soon becomes all-consuming, imperiling his practice and his engagement, especially after he learns that Poe's legendary master sleuth, the Chevalier Auguste Dupin, was modeled after a real person. The lawyer journeys to France to track down the real Dupin, in the hopes that the detective can help him solve the puzzle of Poe's death. Pearl masterfully combines fact with fiction and presents some genuinely new historical clues that help reconstruct Poe's final days. While Clark remains a little enigmatic, the exciting plot, numerous twists and convincing period detail could help land this on bestseller lists as well. Author tour.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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