The Story Behind Dangerous by Essie Fox
Dangerous by Essie Fox
There are some books that really capture a time and place or a person from the past, that you just HAVE to read more about. Luckily, there is a fantastic author note in Essie Fox’s book that explains more. But that’s not to take away from the book itself as the story is complex, full of insights and layers and really immerses you in Byron’s Venice.
The cover gives all the gothic feels
And the man himself – Lord Byron:
Lord Byron (c) Wikipedia
Locations in Dangerous
The book focuses on a story called The Vampyre written by Byron’s friend and travel companion Polidari but attributed to Byron. When a series of murders of prostitutes takes place, he is blamed for being involved. It doesn’t help that he was at the scene at the time….
John Polidari is an interesting character – a doctor who was asked to follow Byron and write about his travels. He is said to have dressed a bit like Byron and Essie Fox weaves in a great tale around this doppelganger thread….
The Grand Canal, Venice. Photo by Stijn te Strake on Unsplash
Locations in Dangerous
Time and place are very well done here with the gothic overtones really coming through loud and clear. He stays at the villa Diodati where his group of friends including Mary Shelley of Frankenstein fame.
John William Polidori (c) Wikipedia
The Vampyre
“The Vampyre” is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori. It was inspired bya story which resulted from a competition between Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. It is also said that Mary Shelley was inspired to read Frankenstein as a result too. The problem is, however, that in the book, the story of the Vampyre proves to be something that haunts Byron.
San Lazzaro (c) Wikipedia
Locations in Dangerous
The island of Lazzaro
The islet lies 2 km (1.2 miles) to the southeast of Venice and has a surface area of some 3 hectares (7.4 acres). SIt was a leper colony during the Middle Ages, but fell into disuse by the early 18th century.
Lord Byron came to visit in 1816–17.He visited often and helped the monks to create an Armenian English dictionary. Essie might have invented the story about the mummy but the rest is apparently true. Fascinating!
Locations in Dangerous
Wax model of Venus
This was interesting to learn about! Models of wax in the form of women with their insides on display. These were used for medical studies but in the book Byron buys one as he did in real life. They had panelled abdomens and were often used for non medicinal purposes too as you will read in the brothel storyline….
Palazzo Moncenigo (c) Wikipedia
Locations in Dangerous
The main locations in the novel are the island of course, Venice itself and the Palazzo Moncenigo where Byron leases whilst he is in the city.
The Leads (c) The Booktrail
The prison The Leads
The prison of The Leads is real place and you can visit at certain times to see instruments of torture amongst many other things. Just beside the Bridge of Sighs. Piombi in Italian , it was situated in the Doge’s Palace -the name of the prison refers to its position directly under the roof of the palace, which was covered with slabs of lead!
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Dangerous
Twitter: @essiefox
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