This was an unexepcted surprise. Blue sent me this book, and told me it was good. (I could have gone to the bookshop and bought it myself, but guess Blue thought I wouldn't!)
The title is slightly off putting, as I tend to connect history with dull stuffy facts that don't seem to link together. Perhaps that is how it came across at school to me. The time period we covered whilst I did O level history seemed totally disconnected with anything else I was doing, and was delivered in a very boring manner. It wasn't until later on the connections were made, and I made them myself.
Anyway, to the book.
Theer are several voices used throughout the book, by way of letters, postcards, historical accounts, but the story moves forward, and all the threads make sense, as they are woven together to make a clear picture of the history the un-named narrator is researching. The research she is doing is also part of her own family history.
With her Dad, she travels around Europe, and while he is in meetings, she visits libraries trying to find more out about the strange book she found in her Dad's study/library. Her research is unknown to her Dad.
The book is much more enthralling than my description, that's cos I'm trying not to "spoil" the story for anyone.
The strange book I refered to is a blank book, apart from a two page spread with a dragon. The dragon is linked with Vlad the Impaler, and the search is for what happened to his body, and also, the history of the narrator's family.
I couldn't put this book down and sat up a couple of hours after I would normally go to bed, to read to a point where I felt comfortable putting it down for the night.
For the easily scared, the latter chapters might be better read in daylight hours. But being an Anne Rice fan, the scarey nature of the latter chapters didn't bother me.
I'm not putting the bumph here, cos it is so long. But this is a really well constructed story, with good pace, and ease of reading.
I suppose there is one thing I should put here, "Thanks, Blue, for sending me this book. "
Labels: historical fiction