The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl: A Review
The Poe Shadow is Matthew Pearl’s second historical mystery/thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed his first, The Dante Club, so I had high hopes for this one. I am happy to report that it more than lived up to my expectations.
The Poe Shadow takes the factual mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe and adds a fictitious avid reader of Poe who is insistent on finding out how he died and what happened in his last days. The avid reader and fan, Quentin Clark, goes in search of the basis for Poe’s Dupin character, a highly intelligent solver of mysteries and crimes. He believes this true-life Dupin will be able to solve the mystery of Poe’s last days. Together, they search Baltimore streets and newspapers for clues, leading Quentin Clark further away from the safety of his friends and family and closer to danger and harm.
The satisfaction and enjoyment of this story does not occur in the conclusion of the mystery and discovering what actually did happen to Edgar Allan Poe. Rather, it lies in the entire experience, the journey that Clark takes in order to get there. I was completely amazed by how much detail the author has gone into, and how much research and time it must have taken for him to learn all of the historical facts necessary in order to write this tale. Matthew Pearl wrote this story with an extremely high level of accuracy. Letters, newspaper clippings, events, places and characters are all accurate. Quentin Clark, of course, is fictional, and Pearl’s interpretation of what might have happened to Poe is fictional, but most details you find in this book are not. I have to appreciate the amount of time and effort that he put into this novel. Not all authors do this.
Not only did the historical details impress me, but the story itself was also very intriguing. Not much is known about Edgar Allan Poe’s last days, and it was interesting to read the bits and pieces that can be discovered about them. There are also thrilling moments in the book with villians and high action chases.
Overall, I was very impressed with this book. Pearl delivered well with his sophomore novel, and I am looking forward to seeing the next historical thriller from him. I highly recommend this novel as well as The Dante Club for anyone who has not had the pleasure of reading either. If I were to pick one, I believe I would have to vote for The Poe Shadow as my favorite of the two.
Really? I couldn’t stand it, and I _loved_ The Dante Club. I went into it really excited, but I just didn’t like the characters, and his writing seemed to drop off. I don’t know if he was going for period style, or what, but it just didn’t read very clean. I think the story might have been strong, but it stretched on a bit too much - if it’d been 75 pages shorter, it probably would’ve been a great read. But eh, I chalk it up to a sophomore slump; I’ll definitely buy his next book.
Also, if you’re into the historical-ish fiction, check out The Alienist, by Caleb Carr. It’s similar to Pearl’s stuff and just as good.