Eight-year-old Virginia Eliza "Sissy" Clemm meets her
21-years-old cousin Edgar Allan Poe. Sissy falls in
love with Eddy and sets her sights on becoming Mrs. Poe.
Eddy eventually convinces Sissy's mother, Maria ("Muddy")
to lie about her age when she is merely 13 and allow the
marriage. Muddy has made her own agreement with Eddy,
unbeknownst to Sissy they will marry in name only until she
has reached an acceptable age to be physically involved.
Brought up poor, Sissy is used to having only bare
necessities, but Eddy was taken in upon his mother's death
by foster parents blessed with money. Upon his foster
mother's death he is now dealing with poverty and struggles
to support the three of them by moving from city to city
while writing his ghoulish and macabre poems and tales.
Being a binge alcoholic is considered his "imp"
precipitated by depression. Sissy's wish for a child never
reaches fruition. As she steadfastly encourages Eddy in
his writing she also assumes the fight of her life with
consumption. At 24, Sissy awakes in death and limbo,
questioning the reality of purgatory. Will Sissy's
sensitivity to supernatural elements when alive help her in
death to remain with her love?
Sissy is a very determined and exceedingly independent
child who grows to stand by her love for Eddy. You have to
admire her determination and resolve to remain a respected
woman drawn into the literary world of famous authors and
poets. Sissy's love of music always took a back seat to
Eddy's dreams and achievements. Their life was sad and
hard but their love remained undeterred.
The Raven's Bride is a provacative novel that explores the
curious and confounding relationship between Poe and his
child bride, who was also his cousin, before her early
death at age 25 of consumption. Sissy was the constant
companion, critic, and friend of Poe, one of the most
haunted and famous figures in American literature.
The Raven's Bride is a beautifully-written coming of age
story, as Sissy grows from a young girl living in genteel
poverty, through her adolescence, marriage, and young
adulthood as Poe's wife. It's also a love story, showing
the ups and downs of Sissy and Poe's tumultuous and
complicated marriage.
Seeing Poe through Sissy's eyes offeres an intimate
glimpse into both characters to create a narrative that
Poe fans as well as lovers of literature and history will
enjoy.
I really wish anyone who reads "Raven's Bride" would try to also read a 1956 novel by Cothburn O'Neal, "The Very Young Mrs. Poe." There are so many similarities between these two novels that I was really shocked. I don't know what the exact legal/technical definition of "plagiarism" might be, but... (Elizabeth Henderson 8:13am February 28, 2011)
When a writer penetrates to the soul of the subject and recreates in imagination a whole piece of cloth, many wondrous things happen. In this case the source material was available to all and many similarities persist in any account of the life and times of Poe. Being in tune with the uni-verse is the mark of an artist. Ms. Henderson's remark is, besides, beside the point. Either the work works or not. Art exists to help us live our lives better through the imagination; it delights and elevates the soul.
Yours in the word, Frank (Frank Green 5:50pm February 28, 2011)
But Hart did not repeat the same factual "source material" used by O'Neal. She copied scenes and lines of dialogue that were simply invented by this previous novelist. That's a completely different matter. (Elizabeth Henderson 7:59am March 4, 2011)
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