Incarnation (41 page)

Amanda was home and recovered. I had no reason to believe that my parents had any idea of what had happened. Certainly, no public notice had been given to the events at the Crystal Palace. With her Jubilee celebration finally over, Victoria had startled her subjects by announcing her intention to visit Scotland. She was there now. Gladstone had returned to Cannes where he had suggested I might like to join him. I think he still felt guilty for his efforts to consign me to the grave.

“I may travel for a while,” I said.

Nicolas raised a brow. In his own fashion, his face was as kind as his brother’s could be. “De Vere?” he asked. When I nodded, he added, “Is that wise?”

“He isn’t going to stop. He’s too mad or determined or whatever to do that. And wherever he goes, he’ll find others seduced by the notion that they can become supermen and rule the world. The very idea of that is an infection that will
spread on the heels of science until we find a way to eradicate it.” I managed a smile that I was far from feeling. “Eventually, he will come after me. I would prefer to take the battle to him instead.”

Nicolas nodded in understanding. As I stood, he did the same. “You know that if I can ever be of any help, you must call on me,” he said.

“I do know that and I thank you.” I turned to go but paused and looked back at him. “Actually, there is something you can do, if you will. When you see Marco next, tell him to please remember that for all the deadly power within a vampire’s heart, it is also very beautiful. He convinced me of that and I would not have him forget it.”

Nicolas inclined his head gravely. “I will tell him.”

I smiled again and stepped outside. Dusk was settling over the city. I moved through the soft light silently. All around me the hidden world rippled and stirred, drawing me deeper into it. Welcoming me home.

             
READERS’ GROUP GUIDE
 

I
NCARNATION

Emma Cornwall

S
UMMARY

In the steampunk world of Victorian London, Lucy Weston, a character in
Dracula,
seeks out Bram Stoker to discover why he deliberately lied about her in his popular novel. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she tracks the creature who transformed her from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme. Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy battles her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she makes a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—the true nature of what it means to be human.

D
ISCUSSION
Q
UESTIONS

1. Even as she longs to recover her lost humanity, Lucy finds herself increasingly seduced by her new powers as a vampire. If you could trade your humanity for an existence of endless youth and beauty, would you do so? What do you think you might lose in the process?

2. The British government goes to great lengths to conceal the truth about the existence of vampires and their role in history. Are they right to do so? What might be the consequences of revealing such a frightening truth to the public?

3. Lucy is furious at Bram Stoker for his role in the cover-up of what happened to her. Is her anger justified or is he, as he claims, a patriotic man doing what he believes is necessary for the safety of the realm?

4. Lucy’s world is being transformed for both better and worse by advances in science and technology. What changes in our own time are having the greatest impact on how we live? Are there advances in science and technology that should be outlawed or otherwise prevented?

5. In this story, the British government is using the increase in social unrest as a rationale for heightened surveillance of subjects throughout the realm. Should people be concerned about this or should they accept it as a necessary price for public order and safety?

6. Lucy is susceptible to being transformed into a vampire because of her bloodline. Could she have exercised free will and changed her fate? Which do you think is a more powerful influence on the choices we make—nature or nurture?

7. One of the consequences of her incarnation as a vampire is that Lucy has only fragmentary memories of her human existence. How important is memory to our sense of who we are?

8. What do Lady Blanche and Sebastian de Vere have in common? What parts do ambition and the lust for power play in the brutal acts they commit?

9. Marco believes that a war between vampires and humans would lead to the destruction of both species. If humans ever do face competition from a superior species, would we survive?

10. Does Lucy make the right decision about Marco? Is her act to save him justified? What does that act say about her “lost” humanity?

T
IPS TO
E
NHANCE
Y
OUR
B
OOK
C
LUB
E
XPERIENCE

Watch movies that have a retro-futuristic (steampunk) setting similar to that found in
Incarnation
.

The Prestige
starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman

Hellboy
starring Ron Perlman and Doug Jones

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
starring Sean Connery and Stuart Townsend

Van Helsing
starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale

The Time Machine
starring Rod Taylor and Alan Young

Sherlock Holmes
starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law

Enjoy these classic vampire and steampunk novels:

Dracula
by Bram Stoker

Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman

The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld

The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare

A C
ONVERSATION WITH THE
A
UTHOR

Q:
What inspired you to write
Incarnation
?

A: I spent quite a bit of time in London when I was a child. Moreover, I was left free to wander about on my own in a way that I suppose would shock many people now. The result is that I fell in love with the city that Samuel Johnson correctly said no man can tire of without being tired of life. The London explored in
Incarnation
—a city of buried rivers, haunted lanes, and shadowy denizens—enthralls me. I wanted to share it with others.

Q:
Incarnation
is set in 1897, but the world you depict has some uncanny parallels to our own. Was that deliberate?

A: Yes, it was. The story asks questions about what it means to be human, and about the impact technology has on our humanity. There aren’t any easy or glib answers but the questions themselves are worth pondering, especially right now when we’re on the verge of breakthroughs that will transform what we think of as “human.”

Q: Should we conclude from the opening scene that you’re an opera lover?

A: I love stories told through music, whether that’s opera, light opera such as Gilbert and Sullivan, or musicals. Give me a bowl of popcorn and a rerun of
South Pacific
or
Brigadoon
and I’m happy. My absolute best opera
experience was attending a marathon of Wagner’s Ring Cycle—four operas, fifteen hours, two days. Nothing will ever beat that.

Q: What made you decide to become a writer?

A: I can’t do anything else. Seriously, I’ve tried and the results aren’t pretty. I’m the fourth generation of my family to write, which leads me to think that we’re wired for it. When I was twelve years old, I taught myself to type for the specific purpose of writing a novel. For a while, I made a living in advertising and public relations. That was okay because most of what I was called on to write was fiction. When I sold my first book, I wept with relief. Publishing is a tough, tough business but I’ll take it over everything else.

Q: Tell us about your writing process.

A: I sit down in front of a blank screen and I stay there until I write something. It may be two paragraphs or two pages but it has to be something. I do this pretty much seven days a week all year long. Some days are a lot better than others. When I’m really having trouble figuring out a character, I walk around the house having a conversation with that person. Out loud. Amazingly, my family has adjusted to this and ignores me.

Q: What’s the hardest part of being a writer?

A: Rejection, of course, I don’t think anyone ever gets used to that. But it’s never, or at least rarely personal and it
really is just part of the job. Being able to accept that and carry on is what separates would-be writers from published authors. Beyond that there’s the struggle to tune out all the distractions of life and focus on an inner world of the imagination, which then has to be captured in a form that can be shared with others. Communicating face-to-face is difficult enough, but a writer has to get inside the head of a reader. That’s a rather intimate relationship and it has to be treated with great respect.

Q: What have you got against Bram Stoker?

A: Aside from a healthy dollop of professional jealousy, not a thing. I’m actually a huge fan, which is why I’m delighted that he plays such an important role in
Incarnation.

Q: Why are people so fascinated by vampires?

A: Because they’re gorgeous and sexy, and they live forever. They tap into our deepest fears and longings. Sex and death—eros and thanatos—drive human existence but vampires have found a way around that. It’s a dreadful bargain in some ways but it works, at least in our imagination.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

A: Come visit me at
http://www.facebook.com/emmacornwallauthor
. We’ll talk.