Elizabeth Kostova
First published 2005 (Little, Brown and Company)
Get ready to meet the most famous vampire of all time in a
brand-new guise. Kostova’s more-than-600-page novel revolves around the myth of
the 15th century despotic and cruel ruler of Wallachia – Vlad III
the Impaler – immortalised as the vampire lord Dracula.
The story is told by an American diplomat, Paul, to his young daughter (whose name is never revealed) by means of a series of letters, journals and ancient documents. The novel ties together three separate narratives - that of Paul's mentor Rossi in the 1930s, that of Paul in the 1950s, and that of the narrator herself (Paul’s daughter) in the 1970s. The narratives are based on a quest to uncover the truth about Dracula’s mystery and the possibility that he is still alive and wields great power.
Paul’s narrative is given the most prominent place. While he is travelling across Eastern Europe, he meets Helen a dark-eyed Romanian raised in Hungary. Through Helen, Paul samples the harshness of the Soviet political system of the 1950s. Paul and Helen become embroiled in an attempt to rescue Paul's supervisor, an eminent historian, from Dracula's clutches. Their story, set in the late 1950s, takes them into the farthest-flung corners of Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, as they unpeel layers of intrigue that have been simmering for hundreds of years.
Kostova depicts Dracula not as a blind killer, but as a scholar and librarian, whose power stems from his deep-rooted knowledge of history. He is so obsessed with the past that he lures historians into his master plan to establish his undead followers throughout the globe.
The characters in Kostova’s novel use their accumulated knowledge of previous generations in their quest for shedding light on Dracula’s mystery. They ditch their common sense and logical thinking and are reduced to stuffing their pockets with cloves of garlic, carrying silver bullets and wearing crucifixes in a bid to ward off the horrifying enemy that they have to face. For make no mistake – Dracula might by a scholar but he is cruel, vindictive and power-hungry!
The narratives in The Librarian blend spiritual as well as physical journeys. Underlying themes provide credible and solid foundations for these journeys and include a vision of a future world where Islam and Christianity coexist in constant tension. The cruel medieval world of Vlad the Impaler is also constantly juxtaposed to the modern world. As you read through the chapters of this novel, you get a sense that you’re somehow reading a 19th-century gothic novel that foreshadows the future centuries. Yet, you are always left in doubt about the veracity of the facts exposed by the main characters. The narrator’s reliability is very doubtful, as are the first-had accounts retold in letters by her father. This uncertainty creates suspense and tension, as does the anticipation of meeting the evil master himself.
It takes perseverance to get through the entirety of the story – you will need to focus less on the plot and savour the well-crafted detail that surrounds the narratives and places in order to appreciate this masterful novel to the full.
