Bulwer-Lytton's 'Zanoni' is an occult masterpiece, one of the finest examples of spiritual fiction in print, replete with profound esoteric knowledge and descriptions, some of which will only be recognized by those of 'Adeptus' grade or above. The novel's eponymous hero is a member of an order of in...

Bulwer-Lytton's 'Zanoni' is an occult masterpiece, one of the finest examples of spiritual fiction in print, replete with profound esoteric knowledge and descriptions, some of which will only be recognized by those of 'Adeptus' grade or above. The novel's eponymous hero is a member of an order of initiates who understand the secret of eternal life. But the price of immortality is the complete surrender of all earthly passions, a price Zanoni has willingly paid for over 4000 years - until he meets, and falls in love, with Viola. Then (as is true for everyone on this earth), he faces a choice between the spiritual and the mundane - of losing either his immortality or his beloved. Set amongst the turbulent times of the French Revolution, 'Zanoni' is a wonderful allegory of human spiritual evolution, comprising seven sections to reflect the seven grades leading to adepthood. It is also a Rosicrucian novel of ideas, written by a man who was a founding member of the English Rosicrucian Society.