Join us at The Poe Museum on Thursday, September 17th for a Tell-Tale Talk with author Lyndsay Faye, who will discuss her upcoming novel, RAVEN, to be released in October.
About RAVEN:
An orphaned young woman in antebellum Maryland is pulled into a maelstrom of passion, pain, and occult power in this Gothic homage to the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe.
I died a fortnight ago this coming Thursday. It was a terrifically unpleasant experience—being murdered, I mean to say.
Raven Helen Allan has always been haunted by witchcraft. Since the death of her beloved mother, she has soothed herself by speaking words into spells—a proclivity enhanced by time spent with her aunt’s library of occult books. She also finds a self-destructive solace in transmuting the pain in her heart onto her flesh.
After an itinerant childhood spent first with her mother’s traveling theater troupe and then being passed around from relative to relative, Raven is relieved to finally settle down with Aunt Berenice in her Baltimore townhouse—even if her aunt spends most evenings in a laudanum haze. There she finds a long-sought sense of belonging with the family of enslaved workers in her aunt’s household, especially the brilliantly odd youngest daughter Pym. Raven’s infatuation with her friend only grows more intimate as the girls become women together. But when the household is threatened with financial ruin, Raven must set out to earn her own living.
Taking a job as a paid companion, Raven arrives at the crumbling Moldavia Manor. Her charge is a delicate young invalid named Lenore Legrand who haunts the Gothic structure like a phantom. Living with them is Lenore’s devoted older cousin Travanion, who shares Raven’s interest in the occult and devotes his days to searching ancient texts for an Elixir of Life that might cure his cousin. Raven finds herself inexorably drawn to both cousins as well as to the secrets hidden in the shadows of Moldavia Manor. Will she find the answers she seeks in Trevanion’s alchemical texts? What is the meaning of glowing green light emitted from the tower windows? And is Raven truly narrating this story from beyond the grave—if so, who murdered her?
Gothic and atmospheric, Raven is an aching tale of loss, freedom, death, and resurrection by the celebrated author of Jane Steele and Dust and Shadow.
Lyndsay Faye is the internationally bestselling author of eight critically acclaimed novels and two short story collections. She has been published in fifteen languages, nominated for two Edgar Awards, and received an American Library Association award for Best Historical Novel. A notable writer of Sherlock Holmes pastiches including Dust and Shadow and Observations by Gaslight, she also particularly enjoys upending classical literature, as in Jane Steele, which transforms Jane Eyre into a feminist serial killer. A true New Yorker in the sense that she was born elsewhere, Faye lives in Queens with her husband Nicholas and her cat Prufrock.
General Event Information:
SCHEDULE:
5:30 PM – Doors open
5:45 PM – Zoom meeting opens
6:00 PM – Talk begins
VIRTUAL LIVESTREAMS:
Virtual ticket holders will be sent a Zoom webinar link for the livestream the day of the event. The Zoom invitation is also included in the confirmation email received upon purchase.
WEATHER:
This event takes place outdoors. Please dress according to the weather forecast. In case of inclement weather, an alternate location may be announced.
FOOD & DRINK:
One glass of wine included in in-person admission. Complimentary snacks and refreshments available.
PARKING:
The Poe Museum has a small gravel lot attached on 20th and Main Streets. If the lot is full, there is street parking available on surrounding streets.
OTHER:
Chairs provided. Exhibits remain open to explore before or after the talk.
Reserve your tickets below!
Thank you to Fountain Bookstore, who will sell books after the talk.
Can’t make it in person? The talk can be streamed virtually! Select the Livestream ticket option at check out. Virtual ticket holders will be sent a Zoom webinar link for the livestream the day of the event.
