Of Monsters and Madness (27 page)

This book is a work of fiction, but there are several real-life connections I found fascinating when I started researching the background for this story. The first is Edgar Allan Poe. So much has been written about his time in Boston, Baltimore, and New York City that, when I found the small, but significant, connection to Philadelphia, I knew it was the perfect setting.

Although “The Tell-Tale Heart” was published in 1843, “The Raven” in 1845, and “Annabel Lee” in 1849, I chose to set this story in the year 1826 to cover the “lost time” while Poe was registered at the University of Virginia. I wondered what might have happened after the semester he spent there if he had taken a position as an assistant in a medical laboratory to support himself.… For this story, I presumed he would have started writing some of the works I referenced much
earlier than the years they were published.

Pennsylvania Hospital, the first U.S. hospital, is real and is also located in Philadelphia. (America’s first surgical amphitheater and America’s first medical library are located on the second and third floors of the historic Pine Building of the hospital. I highly recommend you visit them both if you get the chance.)

Annabel’s hero, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, was the first woman physician in the United States. She, too, has a connection to Philadelphia, although I have taken poetic license with two pieces of her history: The first was advancing her timeline by twenty years. Dr. Blackwell was only five years old in 1826. The second was having her achieve her lifelong goal of becoming a surgeon. Due to an eye infection that caused her to lose sight in her left eye, Dr. Blackwell was never able to attain this position. It only felt right in my world to make that dream come true.

As for the Washington Irving reference? Edgar Allan Poe was indeed aware of, and corresponded with, Washington Irving.

Acknowledgments

Great big heaps of thanks to Mollie, fab assistant Katie, and the rest of the team at Foundry Literary + Media for seeing this project off the ground and steering the ship.

Even bigger heaps of thanks to my amazing and wonderful editor, Alison, who knew how to wield those track changes of magic, when to talk me down from the ledge, let me make those last-LAST minute edits, and always remembers how much she loves me when I bring up the dreaded, “So, about that deadline …” topic of conversation.

To the Egmont team—Margaret and Michelle and Regina and anyone else I may have forgotten (I’m sorry! I love you! Still friends?)—thank you for your tremendous support and enthusiasm and contagious good cheer. Working on this project with you has been
one of the best things ever.

Thank you, dear readers, for seeing me through another one. (Yes, there IS a sequel. Don’t worry! I won’t leave you hanging.) You have a million choices out there, and any time you choose to read my words, it leaves me thrilled and honored and so very happy. Thank you.

Friends and family, your continued support and love means the world to me. There is no thank-you I can say that is big enough to cover it all.

Lorrie and Lauren—thank you for always knowing what to say and how to say it. May your kindness and generosity be returned x3. Love you guys!

And finally, all my love and thanks to Lee—my rock, my rope-climbing partner, my everything.
Amor Vincit Omnia

Works Referenced

“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. First published in the
New-York Daily Tribune
, October 9, 1849.

“The Mask of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe. First published in
Graham’s Magazine
, May 1842.

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. First published in the
Evening Mirror
, January 29, 1845.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. First published in the
Pioneer
, January 1843.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson. London:
Longmans, Green, & Co.
, 1886.