Half mad from an overdose of laudanum, Edgar Allan Poe re-imagines the life and death of each woman he loved even as they reach beyond the grave to save his life.
Originally from the Midwest, Noreen now lives in Southern California. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in national as well as international journals: The Chicago Tribune's Printers Row journal, The Oleander Review, Pilcrow and Dagger, and Vine Leaves Press, among others.
Her fiction and poetry exude the complexity of situations she's faced as well as the challenges she's overcome. They are rich in detail, diffused with empathy, and poetically written. Noreen Lace believes in the beauty of language to express the deepest, darkest parts of our beings.
West End and Life of Clouds, told in sparse prose and broken narrative, feature characters whose lives have been affected by elements outside their control with the protagonists struggling to find their own power.
A one-sitting read for almost everyone. Short, descriptive and believable. Ms. Lace’s depiction of Edgar’s flashbacks are deep and intriguing. You can feel the suspense and Edgar’s pain in her selection of words in this brilliant short story!
The story made me want to open a volume of Poe stories and read while the snow was falling this past Christmas.