Imposture: A Novel

A love affair based on a case of mistaken identity, set in an impeccable re-creation of nineteenth-century London.Lord Byron was the greatest writer and most notorious, scandalous lover of his age—an irresistible attraction for a sheltered, bookish, and passionate young woman like Eliza Esmond. Eliza believes she's met Byron on the doorstep of his publisher, and that her dreams have come true when he arranges to meet her in secret. But what if the man she believes to be Byron is someone else—a look-alike named John Polidori, who once toured Europe as Byron's doctor? And if Polidori is the true author of a wildly successful book everyone believes to have been written by Byron, who is the real imposter? Stylish, subtle, and seductive, Imposture is about ambition, fantasy, the power of artistic greatness, and the consequences of celebrity—by a gifted novelist of true talent. Reading group guide available. Lord Byron was the greatest writer and most notorious, scandalous lover of his age - an irresistible attraction for a sheltered, bookish, and passionate young woman like Eliza Esmond. Eliza believes she's met Byron on the doorstep of his publisher, and that her dreams have come true when he arranges to meet her in secret. But what if the man she believes to be Byron is someone else - a look-alike named John Polidori, who once toured Europe as Byron's doctor? And if Polidori is the true author of a wildly successful book everyone believes to have been written by Byron, who is the real imposter? Stylish, subtle, and seductive, 'Imposture' is about ambition, fantasy, the power of artistic greatness, and the consequences of celebrity - by a gifted novelist of true talent. Reading group guide available. This novel begins in deception and ends in tragedy. Bookish Eliza Esmond, having forever lived in the shadow of her prettier sister, has a chance encounter with famed writer and legendary lover Lord Byron outside a London bookstore and is thrilled when their brief conversation turns, over time, into his pursuit of her. Unfortunately for Eliza, her Byron isn't the real Byron; he's John Polidori, a bumbling doctor with literary aspirations who had worked as Lord Byron's physician

a Love Affair Based On A Case Of Mistaken Identity, Set In An Impeccable Re-creation Of Nineteenth-century London.

the Washington Post - Louis Bayard

the Prose Is Marvelous -- Not A Misshapen Sentence, Not A Misplaced Emphasis -- But The Author's Real Triumph Is To Transform A Figure From Literature's Margins Into Something Suspiciously Universal. Something That Looks An Awful Lot Like Us.

Having been dismissed from Lord Byron's service, Dr John Polidori had fallen on hard times. Three years earlier he had accompanied the poet on a tour of the continent, Poladori had held literary ambitions and wanted to test his talents against the greatest writer of his age. And now a young woman mistakes the doctor for the poet "[Markovits] leaves us wanting, in the most delicious way, more." -Kirsty Gunn, The Observer