Viva Byron!: A counterfactual novel

by Hugh Thomson

Viva Byron!

A counterfactual

What would have happened if the poet Lord Byron had not died an early death in Greece?

But instead had lived – and then some – by doing what his letters show he always wanted to do.

Escape to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, and help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish.

This great sweep of a novel imagines just that and takes the poet and his lover into a New World of the Americas where nothing is ever quite as they expect.


‘Bold, bewitching and a touch dangerous – like Lord Byron himself’ Benedict Allen

‘Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller’ Sara Wheeler


Hugh Thomson is an award-winning writer whose previous books have explored the world from Peru to England, and whose films have been nominated for a BAFTA.

The White Rock and Cochineal Red were about his search for Inca ruins; Nanda Devi, a journey to a wild and usually forbidden part of the Himalaya; while his memoir Tequila Getting Lost in Mexico was serialised by BBC Radio 4.

He returned home for The Green Road into the Trees which won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.


“Everywhere Thomson goes, he finds good stories to tell.” New York Times Book Review

‘He takes the reader to places we may not have dreamed of going – places of geography, the spirit and the emotions.’ Independent

309 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 18, 2024

About the author

Hugh Thomson believes strongly that the world is not as explored as we like to suppose.

He writes about the wilder corners of the planet, from the edges of Peru to the Himalayas, looking for Inca ruins and lost cultures. Geographical commented that 'he is a writer who explores and not an explorer who writes.'

For 'The Green Road into the Trees', he returned to Britain to write about his own country. It won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.

For the successful sequel, 'One Man and a Mule', he decided to have ‘a South American adventure in England’ by taking a mule as a pack animal across the north of the country.

His most recent book is his first novel - ‘Viva Byron!’ - which imagines what might have happened if the poet had not died an early death in Greece - but instead lived - and then some! - by going to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, to help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish. "Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller." Sara Wheeler.

His previous books include: 'The White Rock', 'Nanda Devi' and 'Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru' (all Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and he has collected some of his favourite places in the lavishly illustrated '50 Wonders of the World'.

In 2009 he wrote 'Tequila Oil', a memoir about getting lost in Mexico when he was eighteen and, in the words of the Alice Cooper song, 'didn't know what he wanted'. It was serialised by BBC R4 as 'Book of the Week'.

"Delightful, celebratory and honest....In a way 'Tequila Oil' is the first installment of his now-complete trilogy, his 'Cochineal Red' and 'The White Rock' being two of the finest books on Latin America of recent years." (Rory MacLean, The Guardian)

See www.thewhiterock.co.uk for more, including his blog and events at which he is speaking.

Reviews

[S.P. Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evidence from his letters suggests that Byron was humming and ha-ing about where to indulgence his urge to a spot of righteous freedom-fighting for a noble cause: Greece or South America? “Viva Byron!” relates what could have happened had the poet come down on the side of South America.

The story starts with Byron languishing in Venice, happy with his young lover, Countess Teresa, but dissatisfied with himself. Venice is making him fat and lazy (“He had become part of Venice’s decayed furniture, as if he were another piece of floating debris”). Byron longs for action, to follow a life of sensations, so off he sails with his entourage - mistress, child, best friend, servants - as well as a menagerie of birds and beasts.

And so the adventures start. The book is a glorious delight to read - plenty of bravado and swagger, swash & buckle, carousing and sharp wit. The author, like an actor, seems to have summoned the spirit of Byron and thoroughly immersed himself in the character. As well as the colourful characters, there’s a tangible atmosphere of time and place - I really did feel transported to a completely different world.

I generally liked the style of the writing, although one or two things did take getting used to. The author uses “he” when referring to Byron in an idiosyncratic way - I tripped up on this a few times.

I recently enjoyed William Boyd’s “The Romantic” (where Byron also makes a cameo appearance) and thought “Viva Byron!” was in a similar vein.

[Katherine]

DNF at 50%. I picked up this book only because it was a book club pick. It's not something I would ever pick up, but I had hope that I'd like it, anyway. I didn't.

It was written with the language of the 19th century, which was always hard for me to wrap my head around in school when reading classics. So much and so little kept happening. The author kept writing "he did this, he did that" when talking about Byron, and you had to get into the mindset that it was about Byron because there are other characters we follow who also sometimes had pronouns used.

I really tried to finish this, but my eyes kept glazing over because I just didn't care. I'm curious about how the discussion at book club will go.