The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

This is rather a strange novel, and although I wouldn't say that reading it brought me a lot of joy, I certainly found it hard to put down. Okay, so essentially the story is about Dracula but even more than that it seems to be about the the nature of being a historian and the nature of research, and it's the blending of the two which makes the whole things a bit strange. The storyline is pretty gripping and I really did want to find out what happened in the end, which is why it was hard to put down, although some sections dragged on a bit. There's hardly any present-day narrative, with almost the entire story being taking place in various people's past and being relayed to the reader second-, third- or even fourth-hand through stories and letters, and stories and letters within letters. What you miss out on, therefore, is any characteristation of the woman who is ultimately telling the story - even by the end you don't really know what she's like at all. Furthermore, I didn't feel there was enough variation between the different characters. We hear the lengthy recollections of this historian and that librarian, all from different cultures and backgrounds, but it's as if they're all speaking with the same voice and personality. Having said that, it is a really interesting book and at points it was scary enough to prevent me from reading it at night!