Book Review: Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians by Justin Martin

Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians by Justin Martin

Published by: Da Capo Press

Published on: September 2, 2014

Page Count: 368

Genre: Biography

My Reading Format: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle, Audible

My Review:

Pfaff's Saloon in Manhattan was for years where an eclectic but now well-known group of artists and writers gathered to share their ideas with each other. At the center of this group was young poet Walt Whitman. Those who drifted in an out of this group over the next years are others who were making names for themselves: actors Edwin Booth and his brother John Wilkes Booth, comedian Artemus Ward, drug experimenter Fitz Hugh Ludlow and a scandalous actress named Adah Menken. The group was widely traveled but kept Pfaff's Saloon as a home base, gathering nearly every evening at the same table in the bar.

I read this book shortly before teaching Whitman's poetry to my American literature* class and found Martin's book to be meticulously researched and absolutely fascinating. This book featuring this quirky cast of characters with Whitman at the center really brings the bohemian group of American romantic artists to life. As the book progresses, Martin reveals, layer by layer, the connections this group formed with other notable people of the time. In particular, Martin tells of the very short degree of separation between Whitman and the assassination of the man he admired perhaps more than anyone else:  President Abraham Lincoln (and, this connection isn't through John Wilkes Booth but someone else).

Martin's book is no stuffy biography but a book that reads more like a novel and painting a picture in my head of the smoky basement bar and all the debauchery that must have ensued night after night.
It's a fascinating look into a world I knew next to nothing about before reading Rebel Souls, and I'm glad I did.

Four out of five stars

If you liked this book, you’ll like Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen, Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton, John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson, and any of Walt Whitman's poetry.

**Here's what else I included in my syllabus for American literature.

John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson - See more at: http://betsyrm.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-john-wilkes-booth-beyond.html#sthash.N9bf4MMV.dpuf

John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson - See more at: http://betsyrm.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-john-wilkes-booth-beyond.html#sthash.N9bf4MMV.dpuf

Book Review: Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

Published by: Gallery Books

Published on: October 1, 2013

Page Count: 336

Genre: Historical fiction, mystery

My Reading Format: ARC provided by Netgalley

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle and Audible editions

My Review:

I have to confess I haven't read much Poe. I have the general feel of how his writing is and know some of his biographical highlights. I'd heard that he married his much younger cousin, so it intrigued me when I came across this historical fiction book about a love triangle (or square really) involving Edgar Allan Poe.

The narrator is Poe's "other" woman, the narrator Frances Osgood, herself a writer, and the whole book is written from her perspective. Instead of getting the wife's side of the story, we hear of Poe's dark moods and flighty, sickly wife from Frances' perspective, which really made the book interesting.

Frances has been abandoned by her husband Samuel and is struggling to make a living as a writer to support their two daughters. The three have moved in with friends the Bartletts at their New York City home. Poe's reputation, of course, has preceded him, and Frances is intrigued by him even before they meet. What begins as friendly conversations between two writers turns into an attraction that Frances and Poe seem to have no control over. Frances' path keeps crossing with Poe's and they are soon trying hard to hide the undeniable chemistry between them. In the same circle of friends, many of whom are writers and artists, the two keep attending the same parties. Before long Poe is leaving his wife and mother-in-law at home regularly to meet Frances at friends' gatherings.

John and Eliza Bartlett support Frances in her writing but disapprove of her relationship with Poe. This is all complicated by the fact that Poe is married to a cousin ten years his junior who is frail and sickly, but desires a friendship with Frances, and John Bartlett and Poe have a professional relationship. As Frances and Poe fall more deeply in love with each other, Poe's wife Virginia is growing increasingly ill but still demands Frances' friendship, even when she appears to have caught on to her husband's relationship. 

 

There is an abrupt resolution to the storyline, something that was a big jarring to me as a reader. While I realize this sort of thing happens in mysteries, the story got resolved much quicker and neater than I anticipated. There were, however, a couple things that I didn't see coming, and I enjoyed the surprise.   

Besides the creepy feeling (in a good way!) some of the characters gave me, my other favorite part of this book was the narrator's point of view. I haven't read too many books where the narrator is the "other" woman. I loved seeing her side of things as she grew increasingly powerless to resist Poe's charms and tried to maintain a friendship with Poe's wife Virginia. It was such a strange balance to strike that I couldn't put the book down. 

Four out of five stars

If you liked Mrs. Poe, you’ll like Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, and Z by Therese Anne Fowler (but all of these are from the wife's perspective).

Baltimore's Poe House in Danger of Closing

Edgar Allan Poe creeps me out. I have one of his books in my library and just looking at the cover is spooky. He's really the perfect writing to be reading for Halloween.

What's scary (because it's real) is that Poe's residence in Baltimore is in grave danger of closing due to lack of funding. He lived in the house from 1835 to 1837 and faces funding cuts from the city, an awkward location and not enough visitors to keep the place running.

The New York Times spelled out the problems in this article from August, as well as mentioned how other historical sites honoring Poe are fairing.

One thing I learned from this article that I'd never put together before: Baltimore's NFL team, the Ravens, are a nod to the author.