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This book. THIS BOOK.
I think I pretty much screamed my way through the entire last half of the story. It’s brilliant and horrifying but also deeply moving and heartbreaking.
Much like Dracula the story is told through letters and diary entries as well as real time events and it works incredibly well.
It opens flashing between Bram in a tower defending himself against something in the present and then skipping back to his childhood where he miraculously survives a childhood illness thanks to the intervention of his nanny Ellen. He and his sister Matilda search for answers when Ellen disappears after his recovery, growing more and more uneasy as they begin to uncover strange and frightening things that make them question if they really know Ellen at all. The story eventually skips forward several years into the future where Bram, Matilda, and their brother Thornley are all adults, and are once again drawn into the mystery of Ellen. The three Stoker siblings begin trying to unravel the mysteries of their past when horrifying things begin to happen, and they eventually discover the truth of Ellen’s past and her motives. The story joins up again with Bram in the tower, and then progresses forward as they find themselves caught up in an ancient struggle and facing creatures of evil.
It's an emotional tale full of heartbreak but also love, bravery, and trust, and I found myself in tears by the end. Ellen in particular is a deeply sympathetic and tragic character, and her connection with the Stoker siblings is complicated but at its heart one of love.
My only tiny misgiving with the story is that for a time there’s some jumping back and forth with the story between the past and present up to a point, and I don’t think it needed to do that. Personally I feel it would have been better to let it play out chronologically, there’s more than enough mystery and tension to draw readers along. It’s not a deal breaker, but I don’t think it was needed.
Dracul serves very well as a prequel to Dracula and plays into the question of why Bram Stoker submitted the book as a true story in such a way that it’s very easy to be drawn into believing that it’s all true.
Is it true?
Well. That’s for you to decide. : )
This book. THIS BOOK.
I think I pretty much screamed my way through the entire last half of the story. It’s brilliant and horrifying but also deeply moving and heartbreaking.
Much like Dracula the story is told through letters and diary entries as well as real time events and it works incredibly well.
It opens flashing between Bram in a tower defending himself against something in the present and then skipping back to his childhood where he miraculously survives a childhood illness thanks to the intervention of his nanny Ellen. He and his sister Matilda search for answers when Ellen disappears after his recovery, growing more and more uneasy as they begin to uncover strange and frightening things that make them question if they really know Ellen at all. The story eventually skips forward several years into the future where Bram, Matilda, and their brother Thornley are all adults, and are once again drawn into the mystery of Ellen. The three Stoker siblings begin trying to unravel the mysteries of their past when horrifying things begin to happen, and they eventually discover the truth of Ellen’s past and her motives. The story joins up again with Bram in the tower, and then progresses forward as they find themselves caught up in an ancient struggle and facing creatures of evil.
It's an emotional tale full of heartbreak but also love, bravery, and trust, and I found myself in tears by the end. Ellen in particular is a deeply sympathetic and tragic character, and her connection with the Stoker siblings is complicated but at its heart one of love.
My only tiny misgiving with the story is that for a time there’s some jumping back and forth with the story between the past and present up to a point, and I don’t think it needed to do that. Personally I feel it would have been better to let it play out chronologically, there’s more than enough mystery and tension to draw readers along. It’s not a deal breaker, but I don’t think it was needed.
Dracul serves very well as a prequel to Dracula and plays into the question of why Bram Stoker submitted the book as a true story in such a way that it’s very easy to be drawn into believing that it’s all true.
Is it true?
Well. That’s for you to decide. : )