Madeline: After the Fall of Usher [Paperback]

Marie Kiraly (Author), Edgar Allan Poe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

Returns to the infamous House of Usher, years after author Edgar Allen Poe meets the granddaughter of the real Madeline Usher, to uncover a dark secret as twisted as the cursed house itself. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This overcomplicated attempt to build upon the horrifying events in the classic Edgar Allan Poe story "The Fall of the House of Usher" dissipates much of its suspense through repetition and excessive detail. When a mysterious young woman named Pamela arrives one night in 1849 to tell of her search for her vanished mother and kidnapped son, Poe-who serves as a central character-is drawn into the tale. With letters, journals and third-person accounts, Kiraly describes Pamela's travels to Louisiana in search of her son and Poe's attempts to uncover hidden aspects of her past. Eventually, they meet again and are thrown into conflict with Madeline Usher, who reveals how she survived the collapse of her former home. Kiraly (Mina: The Dracula Story Continues) artfully interweaves real events of Poe's life and has a talent for creating dark and fearful moods. Suspense lags, however, as long journeys are recounted in excruciating detail and incidents of kidnapping, rape, incest and betrayal occur with such regularity that the effect becomes tedious. (Dec.) FYI: See Forecasts, Sept. 16, for a review of another sequel, Return to the House of Usher, by Robert Poe.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425155730
• ISBN-13: 978-0425155738
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,340,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun follow-up to the Fall, February 17, 1998

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[e-mail] (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madeline: After the Fall of Usher (Paperback)

The Fall of the House of Usher was one of several Poe short stories our local book club reviewed last month. In doing research on Poe and the story itself, this is one of the books found to be related to the original story. It has a very interesting twist, the most obvious one is having Poe as a character within the story. Yes, I had my doubts at first, also, but it works! If you liked Anne Rice's Witching Hour series, you should also enjoy Madeline. The storyline is similiar as far as having a "family involvement" is concerned. If you read Poe's Fall of Usher, I'm sure you have some questions you would like to ask Poe. Well, Madeline helps with these loose ends.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good, July 20, 2007

By 

morte "morte" (blerb, nowhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madeline: After the Fall of Usher (Paperback)

What was most surprising about this book was reading the amazon review. The only portion I agree with is that it was long-winded in many parts and rather overly descriptive. It should be considered that books aren't movies, though, and it helped to convey the authors imagery exactly as she wanted the reader to see it. I have read no other marie kiraly books and doubtfully will since most seem to be out of print on amazon. In addition, there appears to be only around 6.

The plot follows many different character points of view. The settings range from New York down to the Louisiana bayou with undertones of the conflicts between the north and south and the issue of slavery. Though the book is written as a sequel to Edgar Poe's masterpiece, he seems to almost play a secondary character. The book takes you on a journey that is quite enjoyable if you give the author the reigns. I would love to give a 5 star, but there were chunks of irrelevant story line that could have been scraped for a bit of a lighter read. The end of the story was certainly far from what I'd expected, which at first was a disappointment but given some time, I see that it was the best possible ending. I rather think Madeline should have been explored a bit more. The celtic aspect was most fascinating since the author took the time to educate herself on the subject and it was presented with in very realistic 18th century context.

It's a good read well worth the ride, should you ever come across a copy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars different twist to Poe, July 10, 2009

By 

Cheryl J. Allen "jchs mamabeta" (TN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Madeline: After the Fall of Usher (Paperback)

Since I am a Poe fan I thought this book would be good; my, was I surprised. This is one book to read about an event that could have happened before Poe's death and is excitingly eerie. Good read for a long, cold night!