Katherine Cottle
The Hidden Heart of Charm City: Baltimore Letters and Lives makes a compelling argument for the importance of the “intimacy literary narrative” in getting to know a city through an emotional lens that is otherwise untapped by linear history and geographic landmarks.Using the structure of the anatomical heart, Cottle brings us through Baltimore’s unexplored chambers by amplifying the romantic relationships and tender correspondences that have, before now, remained unearthed and underground, neglected and belittled.Igniting the voices of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Lorena Hickok, Ralph Waldo Emerson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and other local powerhouses, along with their spouses and intimate partners, Cottle invites us into the delicate, contested space between the private sphere and the public realm—while there, she asks us to meditate on its contributions to the larger historical narratives of Baltimore. Ultimately, The Hidden Heart of Charm City brings its readers to a more intimate understanding of Baltimore by placing the untold stories of its natives at the forefront of its histories. It provides us with a soulful, unedited account of not only what the city has done for its inhabitants, but what it can offer the rest of our nation and beyond. 3
