Daisy Aldan reads from Chapter 82 “About the Destruction of the Opium Paradise” of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young. Aldan was a poet and publisher based out of New York. Her literary works earned her The NEA Poetry Prize and three Pulitzer prize nominations. Many accredit her with being one of the first to publish the works of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. The Destruction of Cathedrals and Other Poems (1963), The Masks Are Becoming Faces (1964), Breakthrough (1971), Between High Tides (1978), and Day of the Wounded Eagle (1991) are some of her more notable published works.

Amidst a treacherous seaside storm, the narrator, Vera Cartwheel’s childhood home is lost. Her mother, whom she refers to as the “Opium Lady” throughout the novel, also perishes. Vera and her father are the only ones to attend the Opium Lady’s funeral. On the drive home, she reflects on how the loss of her mother and her mansion represents the end of an era of sorts… she is now a grown woman.

 © copyright Charles Ruas 2023