(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“I felt as if my native land was rejecting me. Making me more hostile. My country was dismissing me all means. I thought about the many unintelligent and corrupted doctors that tried to place me in a psychiatric hospital in Utica. Then I thought of the perverse editors, who would have sold me to any political party of the Whigs during election. Usually they forced the drunk and beaten destitute men to vote multiple times for the same candidate. All I desired was a loving and intense relationship…”
After the death of his wife Virginia, Edgar Allen Poe boards a ship to Venice to escape life. However, he soon embarks on an inescapable mission. He’s determined to recover the heart of Virginia which he believes is in the possession of another passenger, the evil organ-trafficker, Iancu Rescu from Transylvania. While on board, Poe is filled with dark thoughts, nightmares and hallucinations. Unavoidably, the passengers become shipwrecked in Greece and Poe is determined to continue the journey to Venice.
Venturing through the Balkans and unfamiliar territory, Poe meets both allies and adversaries who help and hinder him along the way. From barbarians to gypsies to wolves to the possible Nachzehrer, Poe and his cohorts encounter all sorts of grotesque beings and events. Wherever he stops, his reputation as the great American writer travels with him, as does his paranoia, depression and addiction.
Throughout this adventure, I couldn’t wait to find out what Poe would endure as each incident brings the reader deeper into his sordid world. Author James Marchiori accomplishes the remarkable task of capturing the essence of the Gothic genre and Poe’s psyche. Readers will note that he has also incorporated some of Poe’s works into the story.
I have to admit that To My Beloved Heart: The Last Journey Of Edgar Allan Poe will most likely appeal to a niche audience. That said, at first I didn’t think that I was included in that group, but thankfully I was terribly wrong.
