Undying Love: The True Story of a Passion That Defied Death - Softcover

Ben Harrison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0978894987 ISBN 13: 9780978894986

Publisher: The Ketch & Yawl Press, 2009

Synopsis

Karl Tanzler, also known as Count Carl von Cosel, was a radiologist in Key West, Florida who developed an obsession for one of his patients, Elena Milagro Hoyos. The beautiful young woman died from tuberculosis in 1931. With her parents' permission von Cosel had an above ground mausoleum built for her. He visited the tomb every night and by 1933 he had taken the body home. In writing this definitive and mesmerizing tale of the most obsessive love imaginable, Ben Harrison did his homework thoroughly, studying numerous press accounts from the 1930s as well as the von Cosel memoir. What makes Undying Love so special are the interviews Ben conducted with those old enough to have known the story participants and the way things were in Key West during the 1930s. One of his better discoveries was a song, La Boda Negra, The Black Wedding, which Count von Cosel claimed Elena sang to him from the elaborate crypt he had built for her in the Catholic section of the Key West cemetery. The lyric made it unmistakeably clear. She wanted to come home with him. Above the coffin of Elena Hoyos, a black crucifix inexplicably glowed with a soft light as Count Carl von Cosel extracted the inner casket from the outer one. With difficulty because the caskets were heavy, he pushed, shoved, pulled and maneuvered the inner one onto the grass outside the tomb, closed and locked the tomb door. Their remarkable journey was about to begin... The book also includes eight pages of compelling, unforgettable photos.

About this title

About the Author

Ben Harrison is a well-known Key West playwright, singer and songwriter. He and his wife, Helen, own and operate Harrison Gallery in Key West. Leading up to the book, Ben first wrote a song then a musical about this darkly humorous affair. Visit harrison-gallery.com.

Review

This story has it all. Obsession, madness, even a sweet May December romance. ---Florida Sun Sentinel

Too strange to be fiction tale. ---Honolulu Advertiser

Ben Harrison separates fact from myth and untangles the thread of intrigue in this gothic tale of obsessive love and melancholy madness. - --Danny Elfman, film score composer for Edward Scissorhands, Men in Black, Good Will Hunting and Spiderman; and Grammy award winner for the Tim Burton film Batman and Emmy winner for the Desperate Housewives theme.

Too strange to be fiction tale. ---Honolulu Advertiser

Ben Harrison separates fact from myth and untangles the thread of intrigue in this gothic tale of obsessive love and melancholy madness. ---Danny Elfman, film score composer for Edward Scissorhands, Men in Black, Good Will Hunting and Spiderman; and Grammy award winner for the Tim Burton film Batman and Emmy winner for the Desperate Housewives theme.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Ketch & Yawl Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0978894987
• ISBN 13: 9780978894986
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224