Unhistorical

By Brittany Cavallaro

Unhistorical draws on historical narrative, confessional poetry, and detective fiction to tell the story of a contemporary romantic relationship that begins in Scotland and falls apart in America, as the narrator finds herself in the role of spectator to her partner's genius. Many of these poems draw from the elegiac tradition, following a speaker who is, at turns, tourist in and historian of a landscape that is foreign to them. The middle section of this manuscript, entitled “The Resurrectionists,” follows an alternate version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson as they journey to solve a mystery in Scotland while grappling with their own anguished friendship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Akron Press
• Release date: Apr 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781629221106

Brittany Cavallaro

Brittany Cavallaro is the New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Charlotte and the Charlotte Holmes novels. With Emily Henry she wrote the young adult thriller Hello Girls. Cavallaro is also the author of the poetry collections Girl-King and Unhistorical and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in poetry. She lives in Michigan, where she teaches creative writing at Interlochen. 

Book preview

walls.

I.

Edinburgh, 2008

YOUR TWENTIES

The framed art creeps along the wall, the cat

wants another cat, you make bowls that I eat from—

I could eat, since your ask always comes at four.

The plants outside grow. They tumble down

to the water, wanting water. I wake up

in your arms. I remember not to look back

when leading a man out of darkness. A girl outside

asks me, do you know where and then blanches

sudden as the morning. Years ago

I lived in a city built onto itself. Each street

ate its own tail. When I marry you

I am making a promise. A mirror bought isn’t bought