Elizabeth Kostova
This book follows in the footsteps of the historical fiction thriller genre started a few years ago by Dan Brown when he captivated readers with The Da Vinci Code. The novel begins with the main character, an American teenager living in Amsterdam, describing her life with her widowed father. He is some sort of diplomat who travels frequently and he never mentions his deceased wife to his daughter, who is curious to know about her mother. One day, while her father is away on business, the girl discovers an unusual book and set of letters in the library. Curiously, she reads the letters, and, when her father arrives home, questions him about the subject of those letters: Dracula. What follows is her father’s story of the disappearance of his friend, how he met her mother, and the search for Dracula. This was an excellent read, both for the historical and fictional parts of the story. Kostova does a good job of keeping the plot interesting as she writes about the history and describes the exotic locations her story travels to.