What if the most extraordinary Gothic tale wasn't fiction at all?
Born into wealth in New Orleans, Micaëla de Pontalba would endure betrayal, confinement, violence and an attempt on her life — yet somehow emerge unbroken, reshaping not only her own destiny but the city she called home.
Her story moves between New Orleans and an ancestral French château, through murder, family secrets and remarkable survival — and, even after death, the ghosts surrounding Micaëla and those places refuse to disappear.
This week, we step into the extraordinary true story of the Baroness de Pontalba, where documented history, Gothic darkness and the supernatural become almost impossible to separate.
My Special Guests are Dr Rory O’Neill Schmitt and Dr. Rosary O'Neill:
Joining me is Dr Rory O’Neill Schmitt @roryschmitt8162 the author of six books exploring history, culture, art, and the enduring mysteries of place. Much of her work is rooted in New Orleans, where the past is never entirely past: its houses, streets, legends, and larger-than-life figures continue to inspire stories of hauntings and restless memory.
Dr Rosary O’Neill, PHD, is a senior Fulbright drama specialist and winner of nine Fulbright awards, including five to study Edgar Degas in Paris. She has published nineteen plays with Concord Publishers (Samuel French Publishers), including Degas in New Orleans and Marilyn/God, and has published six play/screenplay anthologies, three novels and seven books.
Dr O’Neill is a professor emerita at Loyola University, New Orleans, and a member of the Playwrights Division of the Actors’ Studio in New York City. The founder of Southern Rep Theatre, New Orleans, she has received invitations to and sponsorships from American Embassies in England, France, Georgia, Russia and Hungary. She has been a visiting scholar at Cornell University, University of Cologne, University of Bonn, and the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris.
