The Stress of Her Regard

Michael Crawford's wedding night descends into horror when his bride is brutally murdered, only for him to awaken with an invisible, supernatural wife — a relentless lamia who claims him as her own. Desperate to escape this chilling marital bond, Crawford is thrust into a hidden, centuries-old conflict between humanity and ancient, vampiric entities. His perilous journey across early 19th-century Europe brings him into contact with a constellation of literary giants: Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. These Romantic poets, far from being mere artists, are revealed to be deeply entangled in the lamiae's world, some as their progeny, others as their unsuspecting playthings, and a few as their fiercest, if unwitting, adversaries. As Crawford uncovers the dark truths behind the lamiae's existence and their profound influence on human creativity and fate, he must navigate a landscape where historical events are colored by unseen forces and the very survival of Europe hangs in the balance. Tim Powers masterfully weaves real history with gothic horror, reimagining the Romantic era through a chilling, supernatural lens.