THE VERY YOUNG MRS. POE

by Cothburn Madison O'Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 1955

The account of the brief marriage of Edgar Allen Poe to his gentle, frail, and very young (she was not quite fourteen) cousin, Sissy, has an enduring appeal, and none of the appreciable sentiment in this story is lost here. For Sissy, from the time she was a child, admired and adored Eddy, knew that she alone could ease the tensions which led to his drinking. She followed him to Baltimore where he worked on the Messenger. Marriage was to fulfill her May Day party wish ""to be loved and always loving"", but there were the fears that she would be inadequate intellectually, as the menage (her mother ran the house- and earned money with her needle when necessary) moved on to New York, then Philadelphia. Sissy's pleurisy was an early intimation of the lung haemorrhage, after singing at a recital. This led to the long months of illness during which Eddy drank and wrote The Raven. as well as dark stories of death, presaging hers which was to follow .... A tender and appealing tale, in which the author's sympathies are perhaps sharper than her characters; Eddy is never much more than a brooding figure- in the background.

Pub Date: Jan. 19, 1955

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION