Imposture

Lord Byron was the greatest writer and the 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?

"An intriguing mix of mistaken identities, thwarted ambition, and true and false love. The writing is meticulously authentic, yet reads like a dream. Every person can savor this book.", "Imposture is the best-written novel of its kind since Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower, and I was thrilled by the way it moved and developed, shining a light into the dark corners of the Romantic period as well as into the life of one man and his dreams of selfhood. It’s a beautiful piece of work.", "This is one of those delicious novels that lingers in memory. Set in a meticulously evoked world of London during the nineteenth century, Imposture is about the immense radiance that genius of a certain kind will produce, and its eerie refractions as well.", "[A] masterful chronicle of a doomed 19th-century romance that begins in deception and ends in tragedy.", "[A] tantalizing take on the agony of deceit.…Markovits' meditation on the price of pretending brims with delightfully dry wit."

Benjamin Markovits grew up in Texas and London, where he now lives. He teaches at the University of London. He contributes to the New York Times, The Paris Review, Granta, the Times Literary Supplement, and others.