Dracula in Love

August 1, 2010
This variation on Bram Stokers Dracula tells the story from Mina Murray Harkers point of view. As a child, Wilhemina was given to strange dreams and sleepwalking, which so alarmed her parents that at age seven she was sent to a boarding school for young ladies to learn to control herself and her urges. And she did become a proper young lady, with a proper fianc', a young solicitor named Jonathan Harker. But the bewildering dreams continue, and one summer, which she is spending in Yorkshire with her friend Lucy Westerna, she sees a mysterious shipwreck at Whitby. After that the dreams become more like memories, and a presence, which she cannot see, follows her. Essex, who has been praised for her historical novels, has drawn a detailed picture of England at the end of the nineteenth century, including some of the horrendous psychological practices introduced from Germany. Essexs twist on Stokers plot is sufficiently original, and the quality of her writing makes this novel stand out among the vampire offerings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)