Title: Lord Byron’s Novel, The Evening Land
Author: John Crowley
Date of First Publication: 2005
Place of Publication: William Morrow
Type: Novel
Characters: Lord Byron; Ada Lovelace
Themes: BYRONIC HERO; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER
Critical Summary: Crowley’s novel is divided around three different types of chapters: Lord Bryon’s lost novel The Evening Land, Ada Lovelace’s (Byron’s daughter) acquisition and notes on his novel, and the email correspondence story of scholar Alexandra Novak’s discovery of ciphered pages in England. Alexandra Novak, a historical science scholar, is presented with a sea chest that belonged to Lord Ockham, Lord Byron’s grandson, while in England researching Ada Lovelace for a biography. Fellow colleague Georgianna and Alexandra discover notes Ada made regarding a manuscript she acquired from her father’s estate, yet only one page of Byron’s handwriting remains. At the request of Lady Bryon, Ada “burns” the manuscript—the other pages contain Ada’s annotated notes and pages of numbers. Later, Alexandra contacts Thea Spann, a fellow student, as well as her own estranged father and self-proclaimed “Byromaniac” Lee Novak to help her discover that Ada had enciphered her father’s novel with a Vignere Square. They deduce that this links back to Ada’s mathematic background and collaboration with Charles Babbage on the Difference Engine. After the manuscript’s decoding, Alexandra releases the novel for publication, including an introduction explicating Ada’s own unique connection to the father she wished to know and the countless hours she spent protecting and preserving Byron’s novel.
In between the discovery of the manuscript and its deciphering, is the story of Ali, the bastard son of Lord “Satan” Sane, and his tumultuous life. His relationship with his father begins with his capture from the Bey people and being whisked away to Scotland to live as heir to Lord Sane’s estate. Early on, Ali feels out of place and Lord Sane not only demands conformation to a new lifestyle, he continually emotionally abuses the young boy, going as far as saying that Ali’s conception was a direct cause of his mother being sentenced to death. After his father dies under mysterious circumstances and Ali is accused of his murder, he escapes with the help of a zombi to Ireland. After his marriage to Catherine, Ali encounters difficulty with his inheritance as debtors and claimants continue to harass him, his checks start to go bad for lack of funds, and eventually Catherine gives birth to a daughter, Una. In the midst of his temper and burden with the estate, Catherine decides on a trip to her family’s home, but ends taking her belongings and the child away to the country permanently as her relationship with Ali disintegrates. Ali travels back to his homeland, meeting his childhood companion Iman, who recall their suffering at the hands of the Bey, and in the moment, lie together in a hidden cave. After, Iman reveals that she is Ali’s sister, which does not appear to bother him. Lastly, Ali encounters his “double”, his older brother staking a claim to the Sane estate, and who claims to be Una’s father.
In the novel, Byron’s own life is revealed in his penning of the The Evening Land, from his creation of Ali as a Byronic hero, to his adventures, sufferings, revelations, and situations. The context of Byron’s own life like his relationship to Ada, inheriting a title and estate riddled in debt, and his own rumors of incest mimic all the life events Ali faces, making him an almost copy of the real-life Byronic hero that Victor Frankenstein emulates in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. While Victor mimics traits of a Byronic hero, Ali is a portrait of the original. One mention of the creature in the story is the scene where Ali is released from his cell by the “herculean negro”, who is described as being blind, non-responsive, yet pre-determined to function certain tasks like unlock the cell door and row Ali to Ireland. Ada’s notes conclude that this image is inspired by a West Indies victim of the “Caribbean superstition” where a corpse is reanimated by a witch doctor and turned into a deathless and soulless laborer.
Administrative Notes: Kendall Bausch, CSUF, Joshua Newman (editing)