The Raven's Tale

Everyone knows Edgar Allan Poe — now it’s time to meet the Muse who inspired him.

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family — the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them. But Lenore steps out of the shadows with one request: “Let them see me!”

"Several of Poe's most well-known works enhance the narrative, complemented by the author's own finely crafted writing that flows with gorgeous, Poe-inspired phrases...A labor of literary love that will appeal to fans of Gothic horror and anyone who has ever had to assuage a determined muse." Kirkus Reviews

“Spellbinding, imaginative, whimsical, and unforgettable. A rattling good tale that is worthy of the master poet himself.” Dwight L. MacPherson, author of The Imaginary Voyages of Edgar Allan Poe

"A darkly delicious tale that’s sure to haunt readers forevermore." Kerri Maniscalco, #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series

“A captivating and intensively researched tribute to the famous poet and his gothic muse.” A. G. Howard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Stain and the Splintered series

“Winters’s smart, silvery, slithering prose finds beauty in the grotesque — and what is art if not that?” Daniel Kraus, co-author of the New York Times bestseller The Shape of Water

“Brooding, macabre, romantic, and surprisingly whimsical...A must-read for Poe fans, and Poe newcomers alike.” Kendare Blake, #1 NYT Bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series

Cat Winters is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novels Odd & True, The Steep and Thorny Way, The Cure for Dreaming, and In the Shadow of Blackbirds, which collected three starred reviews and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award for debut YA fiction. She lives in Portland, Oregon.