| The Poe Shadow | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Matthew Pearl |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | 2006 |
| Media type | Hardcover (first edition) |
| Pages | 384 pp (first edition hardcover) |
| ISBN | 1-4000-6103-2 |
| OCLC Number | 62331113 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.6 22 |
| LC Classification | PS3616.E25 P64 2006 |
| Preceded by | The Dante Club |
| Followed by | The Last Dickens |
The Poe Shadow is a novel by Matthew Pearl published by Random House. It tells the story of one young lawyer's quest to solve the mystery of Edgar Allan Poe's death in 1849. It is a work of historical and literary fiction, where some previously unpublished details about the last days of Poe are conveyed through the thoughts and the actions of the main character, along with the generally shared ideas on Poe's death as of the publication date.
Baltimore lawyer Quentin Hobson Clark witnesses a somber, simple funeral on October 8, 1849. He learns it was for author Edgar Allan Poe, with whom he had previously exchanged letters about providing legal support for a new publication, The Stylus. Clark feels obliged to look into the mysterious circumstances surrounding Poe's death, despite protests from his fiancee Hattie Blum and his friend Peter. Clark's journey takes him to Paris to seek out the real-life inspiration for Poe's character C. Auguste Dupin, a man of intellect who could help unravel the mystery. After investigating many possibilities of the inspiration of Poe's detective. A Baron C.A. Dupin, a famed lawyer in Paris, and a lone detective with a similar name: Auguste Duponte. After a confrontational encounter with the Baron Dupin and his aid, Bonjour, Clark realizes that the Baron is not quite the character as described in the detective stories of Poe and that Auguste Duponte, with his approach to problem-solving with Ratiocination, was the real inspired character in the stories. They journey back to Baltimore to investigate the final days of Poe before his death, only to find that the Baron and Bonjour have been on the same track, if not ahead, of solving the same investigation. Evidence is uncovered from interviews of the funeral attendants, witnesses, and secret rummaging of Henry Reynolds, a funeral attendant, who obtained a written letter from Poe the day he was found in the streets of Baltimore. What other mysteries that unfold through the odyssey of Clark to clear Poe's name from infamy continue on to a shocking and sorrowful conclusion of the death of the most important Gothic Fiction writer of American Literature.