<p >Antebellum Petersburg was a melting pot of French, Haitian,Scotch-Irish and free black populations. It was in this eclectic city that themaster of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, chose to take his new wife,thirteen-year-old first cousin Virginia Clemm, on their honeymoon in 1836. Joinauthor Jeffrey Abugel as he traces the steps of the controversial couplethrough imaginative scenes of historic Petersburg. From Poe’s own motherperforming in the local venues to the poet’s lasting friendship with Petersburgnative and publisher Hiram Haines, Abugel reveals an overlooked place in Poe’sfascinating life. Walk along the cobblestones of history to discover aforgotten past of a literary giant.</p>