Recent Reads - Man of Shadow & Mist

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Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep - Rosa Edwards enjoys working with her father in his subscription library and is dedicated to bringing books and education to the poorer folks in Whitby, in hopes of overcoming superstition. A chance meeting with Sir James Morgan, newly returned to Whitby, introduces her to the subject of the town's superstitious gossip though. He and his mother suffer from a disease that is stealing her sanity and life, and he is trying to find a cure or treatment. Unfortunately, his unusual behavior and circumstances are misinterpreted by the locals and he is rumored to be a vampire. Despite the friendship growing between James and Rosa, and his unfailingly gentlemanly and kind treatment of her, the danger to both of them grows as rumors spread―perhaps helped along by an enemy―and the fears of the uneducated townsfolk turn them to unreasonable hatred and threats of violence. 

Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, makes a couple of brief cameo appearances in the story, and the hereditary disease, Romanian ancestry, and gloomy estate of the Morgans all contribute to the Gothic atmosphere. There's also a 'Beauty and the Beast' feel to the characters and story. Rosa loves books and learning, and is practical, reasonable, and generous by nature. She doesn't put stock in the tales of vampires and monsters and is sure there is an explanation for the strange deaths of area livestock that doesn't involve something supernatural. Her persistence and kindness earn the respect and friendship of the reclusive and brooding Sir James, who surprises himself by being attracted to her and wanting to trust her. Because of his malady and his fears for his mother, James avoids contact with others, shutting himself off in his estate as much as possible. His trust has been betrayed before and he has seen how quickly the suspicions of others can turn vicious and hateful, so he keeps to himself. He enjoys conversation with Rosa, but he knows it would be unfair to tell her just how deeply he cares for her, thinking it would put her in danger.

The characters are compelling as they battle their hidden fears and desires, and I loved the balance between haunting suspense and developing romance. The characters' faith is challenged as well as their beliefs in human nature and the meaning of trust and community. The dangers of prejudice and becoming swept up in mob behavior, and the temptations of acting in self-preservation or fear are driving forces in the conflicts. 

I was engrossed with the story from the first page, and surely hope there will be more in this Of Monsters and Men series!

From the publisher:

"The world seems full of good men―even if there are monsters in it."

—Bram Stoker, Dracula

England, 1890

Vampires are alive and well in North Yorkshire, leastwise in the minds of the uneducated. Librarian Rosa Edwards intends to drive a stake through the heart of such superstitions. But gossip flies when the mysterious Sir James Morgan returns to his shadowy manor. The townsfolk say he is cursed.

James hates everything about England. The weather. The rumours. The scorn. Yet he must stay. His mother is dying of a disease for which he's desperately trying to find a cure—an illness that will eventually take his own life.

When Rosa sets out to prove the dark gossip about James is wrong, she discovers more questions than answers. How can she accept what she can't explain—especially the strong allure of the enigmatic man? James must battle a town steeped in fear as well as the unsettling attraction he feels for the no-nonsense librarian.

Can love prevail in a town filled with fear and doubt?

Visit Barbour Publishing for more info on where to buy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

By the same author: The Bride of Blackfriars Lane, Lost In Darkness, The House at the End of the Moor, The Noble Guardian, Ladies of Intrigue, The Captured Bride, The Innkeeper's Daughter, The Captive Heart

This is a book that satisfies a craving for the Summer Reading Challenge.

This is a book featuring mythology (#34) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2023

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Recent Reads {Libriomancer}

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines - Credit my library's feature shelf for another step out of my usual reading confines.  I saw this one and couldn't help being intrigued.  Hines is an experienced fantasy writer, and this is Book One in a new series from him - Magic Ex Libris. In it, we are introduced to Isaac Vainio, a librarian in Michigan, who is also secretly cataloguing books with magical potential.  He is not only a librarian, but a member of a secret organization of Porters founded centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the world from supernatural threats.  Isaac is a type of magician known as a libriomancer - he can reach into books and create objects from the stories - but he has been ordered not to use this skill except in an emergency.  When a trio of vampires attacks him in the library because they believe he has been killing their kind, he has only his magic and the help of a dryad named Lena Greenwood to help him.  Oh - and his pet fire-spider named Smudge.  Isaac and Lena work to find out who or what is killing vampires and magicians, and soon realize that they are up against an unknown killer with incredible power, and that they cannot even count on the Porters to help.  To make matters even worse, Gutenberg himself has disappeared.  Isaac continues to search for the Gutenberg, and the killer, and the connection between the two, and he will need all his libriomancer skills and the guts to experiment with magic and take some crazy risks if he is to succeed.

I think this book would appeal to book-lovers who appreciate imaginative fantasy fiction.  The story is full of literary and historic references and involves magic, mythology, science fiction, vampires, and more.  There are mild profanities in many places, and some readers may be offended by references to immoral relationships, but there is nothing graphic that would be offensive, in my opinion.

Recent Reads {A Christmas Homecoming}

A Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry - It turns out there was at least one of these Christmas novellas by Anne Perry that I had not yet read.  I remedied that recently, and enjoyed this murder mystery which features Caroline Fielding as the sleuth instead of supporting character.  Caroline is the mother of Charlotte Pitt (main character in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series), who has been widowed, and married an actor, Joshua Fielding.  In this unusual mystery, Joshua and his theater troupe are spending the holidays at the estate of a wealthy sponsor preparing to present a play.  The sponsor's daughter has written a stage adaptation of the recently published novel Dracula, and it is Joshua's job to polish the play and have his troupe present it for the family and close friends.  A winter storm brings an unusual stranger to the estate seeking shelter, but he turns out to be an asset to the production of the play.  However, not everyone welcomes his presence, and he is later found murdered.  Snowed in and unable to summon help from police, Caroline draws from her knowledge of her son-in-law's detective methods and determines to find out which of them is a murderer.  

As with the rest of Perry's short "cozy" mysteries, the crime itself isn't terribly difficult to figure out, but in this one the motive is kept as a bit of a surprise.  

By the same author:  A Christmas Beginning, A Christmas Guest, A Christmas Odyssey

Recent Reads {The Dead Travel Fast}

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn - Quite some time ago, I read the Lady Julia Grey mysteries by Deanna Raybourn and enjoyed them.  Then a few weeks ago I spotted this new title by Raybourn and picked it up.  It's a vampire story!  After laughing at myself for my recent dive into reading about the "undead" I decided I would give this one a try too.  At first attempt, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the book and set it aside after the first chapter.  It's possible I was just too distracted at the time to focus on reading, because when I picked it up and restarted it several days ago, I found it to be another light read with an unconventional heroine and mix of mystery and folklore.  So after a false start, I did actually enjoy this book and will keep an eye out for more by this author.

Recent Reads {Mr Darcy, Vampyre}{Pride and Prejudice and Zombies}

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange - after reading (and loving!) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I couldn't resist checking out some other tangents to the Jane Austen classic.  This one was a quick, light read; and just like the zombie version, it's surprising how well the characters and storyline lend themselves to these "monstrous" adaptations! 



Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - I decided to just include this one here too, since it's the same general idea - take a classic piece of literature and adapt it as a cheap horror thriller.  LOL  We chose this as our book club pick several months ago and all enjoyed it immensely.  We followed up the reading by watching one of the movie versions of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth, we all agreed it was our favorite of the movie adaptations) and imagined the zombie appearances where they showed up in the book.  Great fun!

My apologies to the Jane Austen "purists" who are properly horrified at these treatments of her work, but I thoroughly enjoyed both of these, and am planning to read similar works such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters...  :-)

Recent Read: Descent Into Dust

Descent Into Dust by Jacqueline Lepore - I picked up this vampire-slayer novel on a whim at the library, and actually quite enjoyed it.  Dracula by Bram Stoker was a favorite of mine, and this story fits with that vampire-lore-style much more than the Twilight novels.  I admit I haven't read any Twilight, but as popular as it's been, I have a pretty good idea of the plot ideas it centers on - it just hasn't caught my attention but I may read them at some point.  In any case, Descent Into Dust is set in Victorian England, and is told in the first person viewpoint of the character Emma Andrews.  She is a widow visiting family when she is confronted with the supernatural dangers of a vampire presence, and discovers more about her own past and heritage as she attempts to defeat the vampire, protect those she cares about, and decide who she can trust.  It was an interesting storyline, and a fairly light and quick read.  This is the first in a planned series, with the second installment expected in March 2011.

Recent Reads {Bram Stoker's Dracula}

Dracula by Bram Stoker - This was my book club pick for October.  We usually do our discussion at the end of the month, and thought it would be a fun idea to read something "spooky" to discuss so close to Halloween.  Like most people, I'm very familiar with the general story of Dracula and the vampire legend, but hadn't actually read the book.  It has been on my "I should read that sometime" list for quite some time now, since I saw (and loved) the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  After seeing the movie a couple of times, I decided it would be interesting to read (or reread in many cases) the literary works on which the "extraordinary gentlemen" were based.  At any rate, I really enjoyed this reading of Dracula, and of course throughout my reading, I pictured Mina Harker just as she was portrayed in the movie!

It's easy to see why this novel remains a classic.  Even knowing how it ends does not dampen the thrill and the suspense as I turned the pages.  Stoker tells the story using first person narratives of most of the characters, with a few newspaper clippings thrown in.  Each of the main characters keeps some form of journal and some write letters or memos, and the chilling tale of the vampire, his victims, and those who fight him are told through the chronological organization of these various pieces. 

The edition I read included an introduction by Leonard Wolf, in which he explains that Dracula is considered to be of the Gothic novel genre, and points out that this monster is an invention of Stoker's, just over 100 years ago.  Yet most everyone knows who Count Dracula is and what he looks like, and that the vampire legends date back at least to medieval Europe.  Don't they?  Wolf reminds us that they do not.  The vampire was introduced to English literature in only 1816, and that by what is considered a rather weak novel by John Polidori.  (Polidori was one who took up Byron's party challenge to write a ghost story - the best known story from that challenge is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein)  Two other novels appeared during the 1800s which featured vampires, and only one, Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu, is likely to have influenced Stoker's writing of Dracula.  Wolf's analysis of Dracula observes that not only is it an imaginative and exciting Gothic adventure, but is also intended as somewhat of a Christian allegory in the struggle between good and evil.  Wolf says:

The struggle is not merely between good guys and a supremely bad man, but between high-minded Christians and a minion of the devil.  Dracula (his name, in Romanian, beans "dragon") is a creature of the night, cut off from God because he has chosen immortaility under the sponsorship of Satan rather than of Christ.  Though Dracula has supernatural powers, he is weak in God's daylight; he shrinks from any contact with the cross.  Still, he represents a more than mortal danger in his victims because his blood drinking is not simply an act of nourishment.  The more the vampire drinks, the greater is the victim's spiritual empoisonment, so that, when death finally comes, it brings not release from the shocks that flesh is heir to but the beginning of ****ation. (Introduction by Leonard Wolf , p xi, to Dracula)

Certainly the spiritual overtones are obvious, but I would not have described the story as a Christian allegory myself!!  And I certainly don't recommend reading it for the inspiration, because while good ultimately triumphs, Dracula could hardly be considered inspiring or uplifting! It is entertaining and well-crafted fantasy fiction, but dark and chilling in tone.  I enjoyed revisiting this classic novel.