Elaine Bergstrom

I do love those old school vampire novels. It's like going all the way back to Bram Stoker's tale of Dracula.

This book was very dark and savage, but at the same time really interesting. The plot reminded me of a puzzle where lives of few people are described in seemingly random fashion until at some point those lives intersect, and then you understand why the author took time to tell us about those characters.

As this book has Elizabeth Bathori as a main character, the narration starts with show more one of her ancestors and then proceeds to show us Elizabeth in different times of her life within half a century time period.

Elaine Bergstrom is brilliant at describing the casual cruelty and torture of the era, the helplessness of the poor and immense power over life and death and complete lawlessness of the rich.

Elizabeth Bathori grows up as a sadistic, cold child, and from the moment her life touches Catherine's, a banished vampire from Austra family, it takes turn for worse. The story is very intricate and complex, and at the same time it doesn't allow us to sympathise with the main anti-heroine (thanks, God!), it draws our attention to the lives ruined by Elizabeth's touch.

Vampires of Austra family do not really try to be and feel human, they are what they are, and this alienness feels like such a contrast to modern paranormal novels which attempt to humanise them.

Truly fascinating historical novel for those of you who sometimes want to pick up a classic Gothic novel and get lost in it. show less

A really fascinating book about a young woman's journey through herself and time and her ancestral family. Young Deirdre MacCallum is called to the bedside of her aging great-grandmother and given the keys to her Washington Square home. While incorporating these sudden events into her life, thinking it would only be a short vacation, she instead finds herself walking through a door into the past.

This book is part time travel and part historical fiction as it deals with the real-life Aleister show more Crowley and one of his Scarlet Women. In the Washington Square home live the family of the great grandmother, Bridget, who fall apart by tragedy until Crowley joins the story. At which point, in this setting, the ritual magick for which he is known becomes a central theme, involving Bridget, Crowley, and the Scarlet Woman who is a close friend and confidante of Bridget.

It is a well-written combination of historical fiction, alternate realities, time travel, and a young woman's self-discovery in the midst of her life upending itself. I enjoyed its depth and venturing into strange and different stories. show less

I am not a grand fan of the alternative history elements in contemporary vampire and paranormal fiction. I would rather imagine that it all could happen in this world. And I am not much of a fan of vampire stories set in the writer's distant past. Nevertheless, some good vampire scenes in a series that I will continue.

Never having read Dracula, and only knowing the black and white movie adaptation, I can honestly say that I was a little unsure about the premise of the story. Luckily, though the book pulled me directly into the action of hunting Dracula down, there was enough back information that I never felt lost. I should say that the book starts with an Author's note where Marie Kiraly goes into short detail about how Mina's voice drops suddenly from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Kiraly felt that Mina had show more more story to tell and took liberties in continuing her tale.

The story begins with Mina's journal entries. She and her male counterparts: her husband, Jonathon, the vampire hunter, Van Helsing, Dr. Jack Seward, and her late friend Lucy's fiance, Author Holmwood are on the hunt for Dracula. Since Mina has been seduced by the vampire and has drank his blood, they know that in order to free Mina from his hold that Dracula must be killed. Mina is suffering silently at this time. Inside she is changing, a passion is rising inside of her that wasn't present until she was seduced by Dracula. She spends most of her days and night's with Van Helsing. He watches her closely to be sure that she is not turning into a vampire. This also bothers Mina, making her feel as though she is under constant suspicion.

As in the Story of Dracula, the vampire is killed and the curse in Mina's blood is thought by all to be cured. They all go their separate ways, believing the threat to be over, but unknown to everyone else, Mina can still feel the vampire inside of her. She still has a burning passion and she still reacts to the sight of blood. This is where the story continues from the original Dracula tale. At this point the book goes into a third person account, spending a little time with all of those who faced Dracula on their journey, along with a few new characters who meld seamlessly into the story.

Mina's husband Jonathon has thrown himself into his work, but he is still haunted by the memory of the three vampire women who seduced him. Van Helsing stayed behind in Dracula's homeland and is finding that there is still a dark, lurking threat in the snowy lands. Mina is attempting to settle into life as a dutiful wife, but is finding it hard to do so. She writes in her journal of how she longs for her husband to show her the passion that Dracula once had, but never finds it in him. A new character, Lord Gance, comes into the equation and Mina is tempted to find what is lacking in her marriage in him. At the same time she is still struggling to control the urges that her tainted blood stir within her. Urges that make her a wanton woman and lead her to believe that Dracula is still out there, for if he wasn't she would be free of the scandalous feelings that possess her.

Mina is a subtle read. I can best describe the writing as quiet, as is the tone of the book. This quietness, at times, made the story feel as though I was simply a spectator in the lives of these people, watching them lead their daily lives while attempting to overcome the haunting memory of Dracula.

Throughout the story I did question if Mina's blood was truly possessed by Dracula or if she was simply a passionate woman in a time where that was frowned upon, therefore she thought her feelings to be wrong and stemming from Dracula's blood. TO me, Mina came off as a woman who craved touch and wanted to be in control as much as she wanted a man to take control of her. Which is not an oddity in this day and age, but in the Victorian era, where women were not allowed to freely engage themselves in sexual acts unless it was specifically for procreation, it was taboo. Could it be that Mina's deepest fears--that Dracula still lived in her--were all for naught? In the end, the The answer to this question is left ambiguous.

Overall, Mina was an enjoyable book. I'm glad I finally took the time to read it. show less