Lynn Cullen Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Picture Books

Lynn Cullen is a historical fiction, romance, and children’s fiction author from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was brought up the fifth of seven siblings. Cullen spent much of her childhood roaming the riverbank near her home in Fort Wayne, the hometown of Johnny Appleseed the legendary pioneer. She also spent a lot of time in the public library reading biographies. Her love for history and travel was instilled in her by her father who would take the family on annual camping trips. They would visit many historic sites across the United States and by the time she was a young adult, she was a self-taught historian and avid traveler. Lynn went to Indiana University in Fort Wayne and Bloomington then to Georgia State, where she learned about the craft of writing under Tom McHaney. She started out as a children’s author and wrote several novels while she was working at a pediatric office and taking care of her three daughters. She later got a job as an editor at a psychoanalytic journal at Emory University. She combines her love for travel with her research for her novels though she has also asserted that she loves meeting people and learning things in different locations. Cullen currently lives with her husband, their two cats and their dog in Atlanta.

Lynn Cullen’s first novel was “The Creation of Eve” that she published in 2010. The novel went on to become an Indie Next selection and was named one of the best fiction works of the year by the “Atlanta Journal-Constitution.” She is also the author of several award-winning children’s novels the most popular of which is “I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter” that was a 2008 ALA Best Book and a “Discover Great New Writers” selection in 2007. “Reign of Madness” a novel that she published in 2011 was the story of Juana, the daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand the Spanish Monarchs. The novel was a Townsend Prize finalist in 2012 and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution chose the novel as the Best of the South selection in 2011. Her most popular novel to date has been the 2013 published novel “Mrs. Poe,” which is an analysis of the fall of the literary giant Edgar Allan Poe as seen from the eyes of Francis Osgood.

In Lynn Cullen’s first novel for adults “The Creation of Eve,” she writes about the quest for love and fulfillment in art in a hugely satisfying narrative. It is a compelling, marvelous and rich novel that studies the real-life story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the female artist that was once a student of the great renaissance painter Michelangelo. Cullen’s main argument in the novels is that speech can ruin someone’s reputation and that just because something is written down, it does not necessarily make an assertion true. She also asserts that it is almost impossible to understand what is inside the heart of another person. In “Twain’s End” she tells of the tangled relationship between Mark Twain and Ralph Ashcroft his business manager and Isabel V. Lyon his private secretary. A side story is the love triangle between Helen Keller, Ann Sullivan Macy her tutor and John Macy her husband that is unearthed when they visit Mark Twain in 1909. Cullen’s “Mrs. Poe” is the compelling and vivid novel of a woman who becomes the unwilling confidante of Edgar Allan Poe’s wife while she has an affair with the author. Cullen got the idea for the novel when she was told that her novel had been rejected just when her husband had been incapacitated from a bout of encephalitis. In a delirious state of fear about how they would survive, Poe and Osgood came into her mind. She had read about how Osgood had been left by her husband and had trouble supporting herself with her meager earnings from writing. She thought the story was too similar to hers and knew she had to write the story.

“Mrs. Poe” by Lynn Cullen is a novel about one of the most thrilling love triangles that is an utterly addictive, sexy and intelligent rendering of history. The novel is set in New York City in 1845, characterized by new immigrants, crowded streets and gas-lit avenues full of crime, poverty, optimism and old money looking for new opportunities. Frances Osgood is a struggling poet in the city who can only dream of the success of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe who is riding high with his novel “The Raven.” She is a young mother that had just been abandoned by her husband who had left her with two children to take care of. When she gets the invitation to a small literary gathering, she jumps at it as she may just get the opportunity to meet the eminent Mr. Poe. She has never been a fan of Poe’s work but he has a magnetic presence and Frances is surprised when he says that he loves her work. They are soon flirting and it is not long before she is having a full-blown affair. With each clandestine meeting, Osgood is falling for the charm of the complicated and mysterious Poe. But when Virginia his frail wife insists on becoming her friend, the affair becomes as twisted and dark as one of Poe’s masterpieces. Similar to the heroines in her lover’s works, she begins to think that deceiving her friend may be akin to cheating death.

Lynn Cullen’s “Twain’s End” is a highly acclaimed bestselling novel that is a fictionalized account of the life of Mark Twain, one of the most eminent of America’s authors. The novel is set in 1909, where the author has attended the wedding of Isabel V. Lyon his private secretary that just got married to Ralph Ashcroft his business manager. Having been on such good terms with both, it comes as a surprise when he fires both of them barely a month after the wedding and proceeded to write a 429-page rant on his former friends. He reserves the choicest words for Isabel calling her a liar, a conspirator, a forger, a traitor, a thief, a humbug, a hypocrite, a sneak, a drunkard, a salacious and filthy-minded slut longing for seduction. Together with his daughter Clara Clemens who is still hurting from a failed relationship, Mark Twain proceeds to slander his long-serving secretary in the papers despite her seven years of service. The novel is based on an extant diary by Isabel Lyon and Twain’s letters ands writing that included events from his childhood that may explain his detachment towards love.

“The Creation of Eve” is a novel set in the Golden Age of Spain that combines history, drama and art to make for an intriguing story. The novel is set in 1559 where a young woman artist has been admitted into the apprenticeship of the master Renaissance artist Michelangelo. However, it was a time when only men could draw nudes and hence she can only watch from afar as Michelangelo paints and sculpts his art from life. Sofonisba Anguissola has extraordinary talent that she cannot wait to unleash upon the world. All is going well until a scandal forces her to flee the eternal city, afraid that she has doomed her family and herself. After she runs away from Rome, the family flees to Spain where King Felipe has invited Sofonisba to be a painting instructor and lady in waiting to his young queen. The Spanish court is just as dangerous given that it is full of gossip and intrigue and the smallest whiff of impropriety could doom a person. Sofi only wants to paint but the restrictions and rules of her job have her in a bind, even as the young queen increasingly leans on her for guidance. The queen is facing the danger of banishment having failed to give the king an heir let alone catch his eye and now needs the help of Sofi who is just as inexperienced. When Sofi finds herself entangled in a love triangle between Don Juan the illegitimate half-brother of Felipe the king, the king, and the queen, she knows that she has never been in so much danger in her life.

One Response to “Lynn Cullen”

1. Lois michie: 6 months ago

   Love your books

   Reply