"Julius LeVallon: An Episode" is a novel written by Algernon Blackwood. The book follows the life of the titular character, Julius LeVallon, from his birth in a remote English cottage to his eventual enlightenment in the mystical city of Starnome. The story begins with Julius's unusual birth, in which his mother dies and his father disappears, leaving him in the care of a mysterious nurse. As Julius grows up, he displays a number of supernatural abilities, including telekinesis and clairvoyance, which eventually lead him to the attention of a group of spiritual seekers. Julius is brought to Starnome, a city in the Himalayas, where he meets a group of enlightened beings known as the Masters of the Light. Throughout the novel, Blackwood explores a number of spiritual themes, including reincarnation, the nature of consciousness, and the power of the mind. He also delves into the idea of a hidden world of spiritual forces that lies beyond the physical realm.
Algernon Blackwood, one of the most prolific ghost story authors in the genre's history, was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist, and short story writer (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951). According to the literary critic S. T. Joshi, Incredible Adventures (1914), a collection of short stories, "may be the finest weird book of this or any other century," and "His work is more consistently meritorious than any weird writer's except Dunsany's." A few weeks after his passing, his nephew carried his ashes to the Swiss Alps' Saanenmöser Pass and spread them among the peaks he had cherished for more than 40 years. Shooter's Hill is where Blackwood was born (now part of south-east London, then part of north-west Kent). He attended Wellington College and resided at Crayford Manor House in Crayford from 1871 and 1880. His mother, Harriet Dobbs, was the widow of the 6th Duke of Manchester; his father, Sir Stevenson Arthur Blackwood, was a Post Office official. Following many strokes, Blackwood passed away. Officially, cerebral thrombosis was the cause of his death on December 10, 1951; arteriosclerosis was a contributory factor. At the Golders Green Crematorium, he was cremated.
