Lord Byron Alive and Well?

Lightening Storm: This picture doesn't actually go with the story, but I thought it fit nicely
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I just finished reading a great book: Divine Fire by Melanie Jackson. I highly recommend that everyone reads the book sometime.

The year is 1816 and George Gordon, Lord Byron suffers from epilepsy, which is getting worse over time. Frightened that his seizures will cause permanent brain damage, the worst thing in the world to a writer, Byron accepts Dr. Johann Dippel’s proposed cure; a cure with an unforeseen side effect: immortality.

Flash forward almost 200 years to the year 2005. Byron now goes by the name Damien Ruthven and currently works as a harsh literary critic. He just received a biography on Lord Byron and becomes intrigued by the female author. As you can probably guess, a romantic relationship develops. But the true tale revolves around a past that won’t stay dead.

I don’t want to give you anymore of the plotline because I don’t want to ruin the surprises. Just trust me when I say the book is worth the read.

I was intrigued by the book the minute I read the Byron’s current name, though I had reason to believe he would be a vampire type creature, which he is not. The name supports my theory well: the name Damien makes one think of a demon (or daemon) and Ruthven is a name that has been attached to Byron in two different tales. I am more familiar with John Polidori’s tale “The Vampyre” where the main character, the vampire, shows an uncanny resemblance to Lord Byron. This character’s name was Lord Ruthven, the name Caroline Lamb also used in a story with a Byron-like character.

A little side note: For those who don’t know who Polidori was, he traveled with Byron as his personal physician. The two parted company something during Byron’s stay at the Villa Diodoti (the place where Frankenstein and “The Vampyre” both were created and the place where Byron’s transformation took place according to Jackson). Some say that his story was stolen from Byron, though both men denied it.

Here is a taste of the tale, just enough to whet your appetite: “The lightning—the power of the gods—would begin soon. He could feel the gathering energy dancing on his skin, calling him again to the purest of matings; the death that led to rebirth. Once there, in the god’s embrace, he would again snatch a bit of that divine fire which kept him alive and his epilepsy at bay.” (page 1)

I love how Jackson writes, especially when she writes Byron’s thoughts. They are poetical as befits the poet she writes them for. Her descriptions of events and characters are just as well written. Even if you do not normally read books such as this one, you should think about picking it up simply because she writes so well.