Strange and haunting, a gothic novel with a modern consciousness.
--Philippa Gregory
A haunting, sophisticated story about a woman discovering the truth
about herself and the elusive, possibly illusive, nature of genius.
--Sunday Times
Mesmerizing, haunting, imbued with a complete sense of historical
verisimilitude --Times Literary Supplement
A psychologically haunting and disturbing tale as full of mystery,
exotic foreign places, and questions of parentage as any penned by her
protagonist. --Library Journal
Thrilling and heartbreaking, a gothic novel with emotional heart and
depth. --Foreword Reviews
A 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
Set in bustling Regency England and decaying Venice, A Man of Genius
portrays a psychological journey from safety into secrecy and obsession.
After a troubled childhood, Ann achieves independence earning her living
as an author of Gothic novels. Within a group of male writers, she meets
and is enthralled by the supposed poetic genius, Robert James. They
become uneasy lovers. Ann and Robert travel from London through a Europe
exhausted by the Napoleonic Wars. They arrive in a Venice of spies and
intrigue, where their relationship becomes tortuous and Robert descends
into near madness. Forced to flee with a stranger, Ann delves into her
past to be jolted by a series of revelations about her lover, her
parentage, the stranger, and herself.
