A Man Of Genius -Signed and inscribed

A Man of Genius is a dark and mysterious work of literary fiction. Set in the early 1800s London and Venice, the story has the tone of a book written in the same period, with a feel of a classic. Ann St. Clair, a writer of Gothic novels, lives alone in London. She has no family except for a cousin she has recently become acquainted with and an estranged mother. Her childhood was not a happy one. Her mother did not approve of her and often called her stupid. She never knew her father except through bits and pieces her mother told her. After leaving her mother’s house, Ann supported herself well enough writing her novels.

I fell for the blurb and cover photo and expected to spend most of my read in Venice, but it only takes up about a third of the book. The writing is hard going at times but keeps walking the line between genius and sanity, not just for Robert, the man of genius, but also for Ann the central character. Captures the mood of the time well, and the irrationality of an artistic clique superbly.

A dark, difficult story. Mesmerising. The psychology is spot on, and the prose style is captivating. Just two quibbles: At the beginning, where the 'man of genius' is enthralling his listeners, I couldn't decide whether I was being thick or it was in fact a load of nonsense. And towards the end, as the complex plot unravels, I did get a bit lost.

The content is quite inspirational