The blurbs call this a gothic. And, indeed, it is. We have a woman in danger, our protagonist Karina Brantley, and we have a sinister structure, a lighthouse.

But that’s just the start. Karina Brantley isn’t some innocent governess nor unmarried. Her increasingly mad husband, always called by just his surname, was a nobleman back in England and she was a Lady – that is until Brantley murdered a servant trying to blackmail him and walled him up alive. Karina is complicit in that crime.

Brantley takes them to a miserable lighthouse off the coast of New England and seems obsessed by it, taking its measurements and counting the number of its bricks. He becomes increasingly abusive.

There is a hallucinatory, nightmare quality to this novel . . . because it’s full of Karina’s nightmares. The novel opens on a train with Karina waking up from a dream, and she does not confide in Brantley about them, and it will be hard to tell, in these nested dreams, what is happening at times, but Lane keeps the story interesting with those section and isn’t merely obfuscating her story.

In one such dream, which has her going on an excursion to shore, we meet with situations and characters alluding to various Poe stories, and part of the novel’s fun is picking up on these distorted allusions.

One night, after being sent by her husband to get supplies on shore, she encounters treasure hunters and learns her home is considered hunted.

And when Brantley tries to kill her, and later, kills himself, Karina finds herself delivering a sealed letter of her husband to one Mr. Poe in Baltimore.

And so begins the rest of the novel with insane asylums, truly creepy passengers on a train, and an eventual encounter with Poe whose life is threatened by a conspiracy.
I’ve linked to the “special edition” of the novel which, glancing at it on Amazon, seems to merely link the Poe allusions to the source stories, but true Poe fans won’t need those hyperlinks, just like they know the opening set up of the lighthouse is itself an allusion to a story fragment left by Poe at his death, “The Lighthouse”.

Lane has said the novel is a sort of detective story, a puzzle with a solution. The ending is unexpected, but I think I understand Lane’s solution which is yet another allusion to a Poe work. There is an internal logic in the book.

If you like dreamy narratives of menace and confusion or just the works of Poe, you will probably find this novel of interest. ( )

** Originally posted on www.bunnycates.com **


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzfRZaJ20hY
My Thoughts:
I'm not really sure how much I can say in my review of Finding Poe by Leigh M Lane, without spoiling the book for those who haven’t read it yet. It is just one of those books where if you accidently say too much… there is no point for the other person to read it. So, with that being said, what CAN I say?
This story follows Karina a lady who, leaves her home country and social status, comes to the states with her husband. She has no idea why he has chosen to come to the US to live in a decrepit old lighthouse, but he is her husband. *as the song goes… “Stand by your man”, right?* After many strange happenings, her husband dies, and she finds a letter addressed to Mr Poe. This sets her on her journey to find Poe and find out what REALLY happened to her husband.
It is interesting to note that there are references to many of Poe’s works discreetly woven within this story. I found myself, while reading, thinking I remembered something from Poe. So I would pull out my “complete works” and scan through to see. Yep, yep, and YEP. =D
This story for me was: aggravating (because her husband is a d**k), suspenseful, intriguing, and mostly… entertaining. A successful homage to the master.
In Conclusion:
I think, for this review… I will just let my final reading update on goodreads speak for itself…



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owd613623ME
I discuss Finding Poe by Leigh M Lane at the 7:21 mark
 
Mom Notes:
This is a horror suspense novel, and not for children. Contains violence, death, etc.

A distinguished lady of Norland, compelled by the love of her husband, is taken from the trappings of high society to which she is more accustomed and thrust into a simpler life in an isolated lighthouse on a battered New England coast. Her husband Brantley is searching for a secret truth hidden within the lighthouse and in the process descends into madness that ends when he hangs himself from the railing of the spiral staircase within the towering structure.
Alone now Lady Karina resolves to return to her beloved Norland and the life of a lady proper but first she feels she must deliver a sealed envelope she found on her husband’s desk addressed to a Mr. Poe in Baltimore, MD. During her journey she meets a number of intriguing, and sometimes terrifying, characters as she is further plagued by nightmares that make her question her own sanity. In the end she completes her terrifying journey filled with twists and turns and meets Mr. Poe who is involved in a dispute that has escalated to the point where someone is trying to kill him.

Leigh has created a hauntingly beautiful tale that in many ways mirrors Poes own work. If you are a fan of his you will recognize many of the characters and situations as the story unfolds. If you are not a fan don’t let that stop you from enjoying FINDING POE. Leighs writing is fresh and compelling, drawing the reader into the story with a voice that becomes transparent allowing the reader to experience for themselves all of the dread and excitement of a character wholly out of their element.

I received a free copy of FINDING POE from the author in exchange for my review. This did not influence my review in any way and my review would have been the same had I purchased this book myself. ( )