This is only partly due to the fact that the author is a top academic who has spent a lifetime in the world of 18th century studies, as well as living in Venice (in our century). This fascinating and unusual novel is quite simply the best historical fiction I have read in years. A former president of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, she lives in Cambridge and Venice. Her passion has been for women writers, the largely unknown and the famous. Born in Wales, her wandering childhood in the United Kingdom, Bermuda, and Sri Lanka led to work as an academic in Ghana, the United States, and United Kingdom. Janet Todd is known for her works about Mary Wollstonecraft, Aphra Behn, the Shelley circle, and Jane Austen.
#Man of the year genius series#
Forced to flee with a stranger, she delves into her past, to be jolted by a series of revelations-about her lover, her parentage, the stranger, and herself. The pair leaves London for occupied Venice, where Ann tries to cope with the monstrous ego of her lover. However, their relationship becomes tortuous, as Robert descends into violence and madness. It mirrors a physical passage from flamboyant Regency England through a Europe conquered by Napoleon.Īnn, a successful writer of cheap Gothic novels, becomes obsessed with Robert James, regarded by many, including himself, as a genius, with his ideas, his talk, and his band of male followers. “Revealing, surprising, compelling, gripping.” Miriam Margolyes, actressĪ Man of Genius portrays a psychological journey from safety into obsession and secrecy. "Intriguing and entertaining a clever, beguiling debut.Todd knows her Venice backwards."
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‘A mesmerizing story of love and obsession in nineteenth century Venice: dark and utterly compelling." "A quirky, darkly mischievous novel about love, obsession and the burden of charisma, played out against the backdrop of Venice's watery, decadent glory." Sarah Dunant “Strange and haunting, a gothic novel with a modern consciousness.” Philippa Gregory “Strange and haunting, a gothic novel with a modern consciousness.” Philippa Gregory "A quirky, darkly mischievous novel about love, obsession and the burden of charisma, played out against the backdrop of Venice's watery, decadent glory." Sarah Dunant ‘A mesmerizing story of love and obsession in nineteenth century Venice: dark and utterly compelling." Natasha Solomons "Intri