Title: Me Among the Graves

Author: Tim Powers

Date of First Publication: March 2012

Place of First Publication: William Morrow/Harper Collins: New York, NY

Bibliographic Reference: ISFDB

Type: Novel

Characters: John Polidori; John Trelawney

Themes: BYRONIC HERO; FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER; ANDROID

Critical Summary: The novel follows the dual storylines of poet Christina Rosetti and her family as well as a veterinarian named John Crawford and his one-time lover Adelaide McKee who are searching for their daughter. Both families must find a way to rid themselves and London of their vampiric hosts once and for all.

As a young woman, Christina takes a small dark statue from her father and, encouraged by premonitions, smears her own blood on it. This ‘quickens’ the vampiric spirit of her uncle, poet John Polidori, who establishes a psychic connection between them and continues to feed off of her living energy. She attempts a ritual with her sister, Maria, to destroy the connection, which only temporarily works . Polidori returns several years later in London. Meanwhile, a reformed prostitute named Adelaide McKee confronts John Crawford in his home, revealing that their sexual rendezvous several years prior resulted in a child that was taken from her, and until recently who she believed to be dead. McKee suggests that Christina, who tended to her while she was recovering from her life of prostitution, might be able to help their daughter Johanna. Polidori has also focused his attention on Johanna.

Getting help from Edward Trelawney, a man with a piece of a similar statue lodged in his neck, McKee, Crawford, and the Rosettis try to formulate a way to destroy Polidori and a much older vampiric spirit Polidori travels with. The statue fragment in his neck allows Trelawney to communicate with the vampires while at the same time remaining immune to their control. The group tries one ritual that works for seven years before crumbling, but as a result they find Johanna.

As a devout Christian and student, Maria believes she knows a way to destroy the vampires but refuses to reveal the plan, as she believes enacting the plan will damn her siblings’ souls. Before they can get her to admit what she knows, Maria dies of cancer. A friend is able to capture her ghost in a sea creature he puts in a bottle, and Christina acquires the plan from Maria via séance. It requires Christina to murder someone and ingest their ghost, which will enable Christina to hold Polidori in one place while Trelawney, McKee, Crawford, and Johanna kill him. The ritual goes wrong, though, and Polidori and Trelawney duel. In one stroke, Polidori accidentally cuts out the statue fragment in Trelawney’s neck, destroying both it and himself.

Trelawney represents the ultimate Byronic hero—a brooding and anti-spiritual man who nevertheless baptizes London urchins to protect them from vampiric attention. Vivisection is brought into the tale as John and Adelaide discuss ways to cut out the statue that resides in Trelawney’s neck. As Polidori moves through London, he and the rest of the characters utilize animals and natural forces to their advantage. Polidori and other vampires use animals to communicate messages (namely wasps) and there are instances of ghosts being discovered in birds, sea creatures, and even rivers themselves. Additionally, characters frequently discuss ways of using salt water as a vampire deterrent.

In many ways, though Polidori is technically not created, it is Christina that quickens his spirit and his connection to her that allows him to carry out his will. Therefore, Polidori is at once a “Frankenstein”-like monster as well as a shadow for Christina—a connection between living and dead.

Administrative Notes: Molly Robertson, CSUF; Sam Drake, CSUF (editing)