Dangerous Byron epic set in Venice – Essie Fox

Submitted: 21st April 2025

Dangerous by Essie Fox

The gothic queen that is Essie Fox has done it again with her wonderful book delving into the shadows of the life of Lord Byron. The very colourful life of Lord Byron as it happens. So much that is not well known about this man will shock and surprise you..

Off to Venice we go…

Map of locations in Dangerous

Dangerous Byron epic set in Venice - Essie Fox

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Venice

Author guide: Essie Fox and Lord Byron

Genre: historical

Food and drink to accompany: something dainty on a plate

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A novel to transport you to Venice

Map of locations in Dangerous

I am finding out so much about Lord Byron reading fiction! First there was his association with Mary Shelley and his illegimate child with her sister in Clairmont by Lesley McDowell and now this brilliant book.

I love the writing of Essie Fox. She draws you in and builds the kind of atmosphere with words and research that set designers in real-life theatres can only dream of. There’s an understated elegance to her writing and a sense that she is leading you down a dark path for more gothic delights.

This time Essie has delved deep into the life and time of Lord Byron. He is quite the character! Dark, naught Lord Byron’s name, and he is then suspected of murder when several women of his acquaintance are found dead. When the Queen of Gothic fiction brings Byron back to life with a story about vampires and dead prostitutes, you are on to a winner. Some is real and some is fiction, but Essie’s clever mind merges both so you are utterly captivated. This was a wonderfully drawn story based on fact and fiction but wrapped up in a gothic bow with the atmosphere of Venice at that time really shining through. The more I find out about Byron, the more I want to read – he’s a classic baddie of fiction both real and in stories themselves it would seem!

The book brings the man back to life and conjures up the world in which he lived. His love life was something else! What this book does brilliantly however is showcase when two titans of gothic-ness come together. Poems as signposts in a novel? Byron brilliance wrapped up in dangerous devilry and murder? Even better.