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The Vampyre Family: The Curse of Byron
In the spring of 1816, Lord Byron was the greatest poet of his generation and the most famous man in Britain, but his personal life was about to erupt. Fleeing his celebrity, notoriety and debts, he sought refuge in Europe, taking his young doctor with him. As an inexperienced medic with literary aspirations of his own, Dr Polidori could not believe his luck.
That summer another literary star also arrived in Geneva. With Percy Bysshe Shelley came his lover, Mary and her step-sister Claire Clairmont. For the next three months, this party of young bohemians shared their lives, charged with sexual and artistic tensions. It was a period of extraordinary creativity from which would emerge Frankenstein, the gothic masterpiece of Romantic fiction, Byron's Childe Harold, Shelley's Mont Blanc, and The Vampyre by John Polidori, the first great vampire novel.
It was also a time of remarkable drama and emotional turmoil. For Byron and the Shelleys, their stay by the lake would serve to immortalise them in the annals of literary history. But for Claire and Polidori, the Swiss sojourn would scar them forever.
That summer another literary star also arrived in Geneva. With Percy Bysshe Shelley came his lover, Mary and her step-sister Claire Clairmont. For the next three months, this party of young bohemians shared their lives, charged with sexual and artistic tensions. It was a period of extraordinary creativity from which would emerge Frankenstein, the gothic masterpiece of Romantic fiction, Byron's Childe Harold, Shelley's Mont Blanc, and The Vampyre by John Polidori, the first great vampire novel.
It was also a time of remarkable drama and emotional turmoil. For Byron and the Shelleys, their stay by the lake would serve to immortalise them in the annals of literary history. But for Claire and Polidori, the Swiss sojourn would scar them forever.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published November 7, 2013
4 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Andrew McConnell Stott
21 books4 followersAndrew McConnell Stott is the author of The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi, which won the Royal Society of Literature Prize, the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography, and was a Guardian Best Book of the Year. The Poet and the Vampyre is his first book to be published in America. In 2011, Stott was named a Fellow at the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. He is a Professor of English at the University of Buffalo, SUNY.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 9, 2013
Thoroughly enjoyed this.
One of those 'you couldn't make it up' books and yet it is all true......
Byron comes across as even more self absorbed and selfish than usual with his 'studied indifference' and especially the neglect of his young daughter Allegra. He didn't want her, but refused to let her mother have her - so why not throw her into a convent where she died from typhus aged 4. He seemed to take more care of his pet fox and badger.
Stott somehow keeps everyone at arm's length and refuses to take any of them too seriously which is probably the best way.
One of those 'you couldn't make it up' books and yet it is all true......
Byron comes across as even more self absorbed and selfish than usual with his 'studied indifference' and especially the neglect of his young daughter Allegra. He didn't want her, but refused to let her mother have her - so why not throw her into a convent where she died from typhus aged 4. He seemed to take more care of his pet fox and badger.
Stott somehow keeps everyone at arm's length and refuses to take any of them too seriously which is probably the best way.
February 28, 2018
What were the cool kids doing in 1816? Much the same as the cool kids now: fantastic road trips, illicit affairs, burning through money, sending way too many messages to someone who clearly isn't interested. You know, as the cool kids do. And in Regency-era England, Byron was The Cool Kid.
In "The Vampyre Family," Stott hits on historical gold with a tale that proves truth is stranger than fiction. The twists and turns of the relationships between Bad-Boy Byron, I-Swear-I'm-Not-Just-A-Sidekick Polidori, Can-I-Get-A-Text-Back Claire, That-One-Guy-On-The-Football-Team-Who-Was-Nice-To-You-That-One-Time Shelley and I-Wrote-Frankenstein-Now-Leave-Me-Alone Mary could not possibly have been more entertaining had they been deliberately written to that purpose and Stott weaves out their personal histories and the fateful summer adventure in Switzerland that brought them together masterfully.
I'll just be over here waiting for the inevitable BBC miniseries.
In "The Vampyre Family," Stott hits on historical gold with a tale that proves truth is stranger than fiction. The twists and turns of the relationships between Bad-Boy Byron, I-Swear-I'm-Not-Just-A-Sidekick Polidori, Can-I-Get-A-Text-Back Claire, That-One-Guy-On-The-Football-Team-Who-Was-Nice-To-You-That-One-Time Shelley and I-Wrote-Frankenstein-Now-Leave-Me-Alone Mary could not possibly have been more entertaining had they been deliberately written to that purpose and Stott weaves out their personal histories and the fateful summer adventure in Switzerland that brought them together masterfully.
I'll just be over here waiting for the inevitable BBC miniseries.
June 11, 2020
Fans of the novel Frankenstein might know the basic story. Five friends -- Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin, Claire Claremont, and John Polidori found themselves vacationing at a mansion in Switzerland in the summer of 1816. It was a cold, rainy summer and to pass the time, they entertained themselves with ghost stories. Poet Lord Byron challenged the group to a competition in which they would write their own ghost stories. Mary Godwin (later Mary Shelley after she married Percy) wrote her story "Frankenstein" and the rest is history.
Ah, but there is so much more to this story!
First of all, it's easy to forget how young they were. At age 28, Byron was the oldest of the group. Percy Shelley was 24, John Polidori was 22 and the girls were both 18. The "vacation" they were on was not so much a vacation as it was an escape from England. Lord Byron was escaping the backlash of a rather nasty divorce. Polidori, a "doctor", had graduated medical school in Scotland but was too young to practice medicine in England. Byron's ill health made it impossible to travel without a physician, so he hired the young doctor. Percy Shelley had abandoned his wife and child to have an affair with Mary Godwin. Facing enormous disapproval from their families, they wanted to get out of England. Claire Claremont, who was Mary's step sister, was a Lord Byron groupie. She pursued him relentlessly. Finally, Byron reluctantly invited her and the others to the mansion in Geneva.
The whole gathering was a disaster from the beginning. I love reading about eccentric historical figures and these people take the cake.
Lord Byron, an acclaimed poet, was the equivalent of a rich, spoiled rock star. Claire threw herself upon him and by the end of the summer she would be pregnant. The results were disastrous. Polidori, although he was a doctor, secretly longed to be a writer. Subject to constant criticism from Byron and prone to depression, he would eventually commit suicide. Shelley, a political activist as well as a poet, would eventually marry his lover Mary Godwin. Mary took the literary challenge seriously and ended up with a masterpiece.
Interestingly, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was first published anonymously. Most people thought it was the work of Percy. As a mother, Mary stood to lose custody of her children if readers knew that a woman had written a story so horrific!
This book was a great read, meticulously researched and chock full of interesting details. I would recommend this to fans of history, horror and 19th century literature.
Ah, but there is so much more to this story!
First of all, it's easy to forget how young they were. At age 28, Byron was the oldest of the group. Percy Shelley was 24, John Polidori was 22 and the girls were both 18. The "vacation" they were on was not so much a vacation as it was an escape from England. Lord Byron was escaping the backlash of a rather nasty divorce. Polidori, a "doctor", had graduated medical school in Scotland but was too young to practice medicine in England. Byron's ill health made it impossible to travel without a physician, so he hired the young doctor. Percy Shelley had abandoned his wife and child to have an affair with Mary Godwin. Facing enormous disapproval from their families, they wanted to get out of England. Claire Claremont, who was Mary's step sister, was a Lord Byron groupie. She pursued him relentlessly. Finally, Byron reluctantly invited her and the others to the mansion in Geneva.
The whole gathering was a disaster from the beginning. I love reading about eccentric historical figures and these people take the cake.
Lord Byron, an acclaimed poet, was the equivalent of a rich, spoiled rock star. Claire threw herself upon him and by the end of the summer she would be pregnant. The results were disastrous. Polidori, although he was a doctor, secretly longed to be a writer. Subject to constant criticism from Byron and prone to depression, he would eventually commit suicide. Shelley, a political activist as well as a poet, would eventually marry his lover Mary Godwin. Mary took the literary challenge seriously and ended up with a masterpiece.
Interestingly, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was first published anonymously. Most people thought it was the work of Percy. As a mother, Mary stood to lose custody of her children if readers knew that a woman had written a story so horrific!
This book was a great read, meticulously researched and chock full of interesting details. I would recommend this to fans of history, horror and 19th century literature.
September 7, 2022
Too gossipy for me. I'd have preferred it to use its subjects as medium to explore the period of history they lived in. There's also something about the author's style that bored me.
April 16, 2025
Interesting in bits, filled in some gaps though as I was interested in Mary Shelley not that helpful. Disparaging.
September 30, 2014
Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction must have been writing about Lord Byron, his wife, mistresses and other conquests, and about Mary and Percy Shelley and all of their hangers on! Not a bad read, but a bit drawn out.
March 27, 2014
Nice but fast moving history of Byron and the Shelleys.
October 12, 2013
Well wasn't Byron full of snark? Really interesting book, full review to follow.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews