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103-508: The Historian is the 2005 debut novel of American author Elizabeth Kostova . The plot blends the history and folklore of Vlad Țepeș and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula . Kostova's father told her stories about Dracula when she was a child, and later in life she was inspired to turn the experience into a novel. She worked on the book for ten years and then sold it within a few months to Little, Brown and Company , which bought it for US$ 2 million . The Historian has been described as

206-690: A BA in 1870, and paid to receive his MA in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating "with honours in mathematics", this appears to have been a mistake. He was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports, including playing rugby for Dublin University . He was auditor of the College Historical Society ( the Hist ) and president of the University Philosophical Society (he remains

309-427: A woodcut of a dragon in the center associated with Dracula. When she asks her father Paul about it, he tells her how he found the handmade book in his study carrel when he was a graduate student in the 1950s. Paul took the book to his mentor, Professor Bartholomew Rossi, and was shocked to find that Rossi had found a similar handmade book when he was a graduate student in the 1930s. As a result, Rossi researched Țepeș,

412-481: A "chilling" Victorian ghost story, and her realistic style is what creates this effect. Marlene Arpe of The Toronto Star praises Kostova's imagery in particular, quoting the following passage: A smell rose from its pages that was not merely the delicate scent of aging paper and cracked vellum. It was a reek of decay, a terrible, sickening odor, a smell of old meat or corrupted flesh. I had never noticed it before and I leaned closer, sniffing, unbelieving, then shut

515-578: A Hungarian-Jewish writer and traveller (born in Szent-György, Kingdom of Hungary now Svätý Jur , Slovakia ). Dracula likely emerged from Vámbéry's dark stories of the Carpathian Mountains . However this claim has been challenged by many including Elizabeth Miller , a professor who, since 1990, has had as her major field of research and writing Dracula , and its author, sources, and influences. She has stated, "The only comment about

618-542: A book similar to Paul's and Rossi's. He has access to Mehmed's archive, and together they unearth several important documents. They also see the librarian who was supposedly killed in the United States ;– he has survived because he is a vampire and he has continued following Helen and Paul. Helen shoots the vampire librarian but misses his heart and consequently, he does not die. From Istanbul, Paul and Helen travel to Budapest , Hungary, to further investigate

721-464: A book with a dragon printed in the center, revealing that either Dracula is still alive or one of his minions is imitating the master. Kostova's interest in the Dracula legend began with the stories her father told her about the vampire when she was a child. The family moved from the U.S. to Ljubljana , Slovenia in 1972, while her father was teaching for a year at a local university. During that year,

824-785: A boy who caught flies in a bottle might be a clue for the later development of the Renfield character in Dracula . On 8 November 2012, Stoker was honoured with a Google Doodle on Google's homepage commemorating the 165th anniversary of his birth. An annual festival takes place in Dublin, the birthplace of Bram Stoker, in honour of his literary achievements. The Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival encompasses spectacles, literary events, film, family-friendly activities and outdoor events, and takes place every October Bank Holiday Weekend in Dublin. The festival

927-667: A civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote the non-fiction book The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (published 1879), which remained a standard work. Furthermore, he possessed an interest in art and was a founder of the Dublin Sketching Club in 1879. In 1878, Stoker married Florence Balcombe , daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent. She was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor had been Oscar Wilde . Stoker had known Wilde from his student days, having proposed him for membership of

1030-479: A combination of genres, including Gothic novel , adventure novel , detective fiction , travelogue , postmodern historical novel, epistolary epic , and historical thriller . Kostova was intent on writing a serious work of literature and saw herself as an inheritor of the Victorian style. Although based in part on Bram Stoker 's Dracula , The Historian is not a horror novel, but rather an eerie tale. It

1133-437: A copy of the novel. Yet, Kostova shapes Dracula into her own character. While Stoker's vampire is the focus of his novel, Kostova's is at the edges. Moreover, the blend of the fictional Dracula and the historical Vlad "adds a sinister and frightening edge" to the character, according to scholar Stine Fletcher. Despite its Gothic roots, The Historian is not suffused with violence nor is it a horror novel . Kostova aimed to write

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1236-638: A curious holding back here as elsewhere from a really probing look at the seductive appeal of vampirism, particularly the sensuality at its core." Susanna Sturgis, agreed, writing in the Women's Review of Books that the plot dragged and that "the reader loses interest" in the core mysteries of the novel. Ong Sor Fern of The Straits Times criticized Kostova's portrayal of women, writing that her unnamed female narrator "feels even more drab and colourless than Stoker's idealised female, Mina Harker ". Sturgis criticized Kostova's characterization in general, contending that

1339-465: A final attempt to defeat Dracula. He is seemingly killed by a silver bullet fired into his heart by Helen. In the epilogue, which takes place in 2008, the narrator attends a conference of medievalists in Philadelphia , and stops at a library with an extensive collection of material related to Dracula. She accidentally leaves her notes and the attendant rushes out and returns them to her, as well as

1442-578: A great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, decided to write "a sequel that bore the Stoker name" to "reestablish creative control over" the original novel, with encouragement from screenwriter Ian Holt, because of the Stokers' frustrating history with Dracula's copyright. In 2009, Dracula: The Un-Dead was released, written by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Both writers "based [their work] on Bram Stoker's own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads excised from

1545-647: A guesthouse in West Cliff at 6 Royal Crescent, doing his research at the public library at 7 Pier Road (now Quayside Fish and Chips ). Count Dracula comes ashore at Whitby, and in the shape of a black dog runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Stoker began writing novels while working as manager for Irving and secretary and director of London's Lyceum Theatre, beginning with The Snake's Pass in 1890 and Dracula in 1897. During this period, he

1648-477: A level of detailed realism to the story, a skill which Stoker had developed as a newspaper writer. At the time of its publication, Dracula was considered a "straightforward horror novel" based on imaginary creations of supernatural life. "It gave form to a universal fantasy ... and became a part of popular culture." According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography , Stoker's stories are today included in

1751-481: A notable if busy man. He was dedicated to Irving and his memoirs show he idolised him. In London, Stoker also met Hall Caine , who became one of his closest friends – he dedicated Dracula to him. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he never visited Eastern Europe , a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular. With Irving he

1854-469: A reputation than from first-time writers. For this reason, literary communities have created awards that help acknowledge exceptional debut novels. In contemporary British and American publishing markets, most authors receive only a small monetary advance before publication of their debut novel; in the rare exceptions when a large print run and high volume of sales are anticipated, the advance can be larger. For an example of an unusually high advance: in 2013,

1957-613: A revelation by Turgut Bora that leads the search for Dracula's tomb to Bulgaria . He also reveals that he is part of an organization formed by Sultan Mehmed II from the elite of the Janissaries to fight the Order of the Dragon , an evil consortium later associated with Dracula. In Bulgaria, Helen and Paul seek the assistance of a scholar named Anton Stoichev. Through information gained from Stoichev, Helen and Paul discover that Dracula

2060-549: A theatre critic for an Irish newspaper and wrote stories as well as commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Cruden Bay in Scotland where he set two of his novels. During another visit to the English coastal town of Whitby , Stoker drew inspiration for writing Dracula . He died on 20 April 1912 due to locomotor ataxia and was cremated in north London. Since his death, his magnum opus Dracula has become one of

2163-544: A tradition where literary craft and experiments in form are all as important as action ... the only overlap is this idea of people searching for something in history. I'm still surprised when people make this comparison, I'm very grateful my publisher has never pushed it." Moreover, the only real historical personage in her novel is Vlad Țepeș and she changed the name of some locations "fearing some readers might confuse fantasy and reality, as they have with Brown's novels". Reviewers praised Kostova's lush descriptions of

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2266-537: A vampire-killing kit at the Mercer Museum , which included a pistol, silver bullets, a crucifix , a wooden stake, and powdered garlic. As she was writing, she posted maps of Eastern Europe in her office and constructed a chart to help her keep track of the book's timelines. Her husband, whom she had met in Bulgaria, assisted her with related geographical descriptions and diction. It took her ten years to finish

2369-462: Is Christian and, as Bebergal explains, "Much of what is frightening in the novel is the suggestion of heretical Christian practices and conspiratorial monks." Kostova herself notes that the world is still "wracked by religious conflict", therefore historical fiction about the topic is relevant. The portions of the novel set in Istanbul , for example, highlight the extent to which the real Vlad detested

2472-535: Is concerned with history's role in society and representation in books, as well as the nature of good and evil. As Kostova explains, "Dracula is a metaphor for the evil that is so hard to undo in history." The evils brought about by religious conflict are a particular theme, and the novel explores the relationship between the Christian West and the Islamic East. Little, Brown and Company heavily promoted

2575-437: Is in the figure of the vampire that Kostova reveals this, since "our fear of Dracula lies in the fear of losing ourselves, of relinquishing our very identities as human beings". In fact, the narrator is never named in the novel, suggesting, as one critic explains, "that the quest for the dark side of human nature is more universal than specific to a concrete character". Religion is also a dominant theme of The Historian . Dracula

2678-526: Is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase. A distinctive room in Slains Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula. Stoker visited the English coastal town of Whitby in 1890, and that visit was said to be part of the inspiration for Dracula , staying at

2781-582: Is most likely buried in the Bulgarian monastery of Sveti Georgi. After many difficulties Paul and Helen discover the whereabouts of Sveti Georgi. Upon reaching the monastery they find Rossi's interred body in the crypt and are forced to drive a silver dagger through his heart to prevent his full transformation into a vampire. Before he dies, he reveals that Dracula is a scholar and has a secret library. Rossi has written an account of his imprisonment in this library and hidden it there. Paul and Helen are pursued to

2884-452: Is narrated by Justine Eyre and Paul Michael . According to Booklist , they "do an incredible job voicing an array of characters with European accents ranging from Dutch, French, and German". Noting that the book is particularly suited for audio because it is told in letters, they praise Eyre's "earnest and innocent" tone in her voicing of the narrator and Michael's "clear characterizations". In 2005, prior to its publication, Sony bought

2987-454: Is partly a reflection of ourselves we would rather not examine except through the medium of scholarship; it is also true that as we steep ourselves in our interests, they become more and more a part of us. Visiting an American university ... I was introduced to one of the first of the great American historians of Nazi Germany. He lived in a comfortable house at the edge of the campus, where he collected not only books on his topic but also

3090-565: Is so hard to undo in history." For example, he is shown influencing Eastern European tyrants and supporting national socialism in Transylvania . He is "vainglorious, vindictive, [and] vicious". As Michael Dirda explains in The Washington Post , the novel conveys the idea that "Most of history's worst nightmares result from an unthinking obedience to authority, high-minded zealotry seductively overriding our mere humanity." It

3193-627: The Oxford English Dictionary , the earliest attested usage of "first novel" is from 1876. However, the term is much older, with instances going back to at least 1800. The Oxford English Dictionary does not have an entry for "debut novel". The earliest usage of "debut novel" in the Google Books database is 1930 (as of 2011 ). The term appears in newspapers as early as 1922, in a review of Marjorie L.C. Pickthall 's novel The Bridge . The Google Books Ngram Viewer shows

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3296-934: The Library of Congress . While Kostova was in Europe, the Berlin Wall collapsed, heralding the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, events which shaped her understanding of history. Five years later, in 1994, when Kostova was hiking in the Appalachian Mountains with her husband, she had a flashback to those storytelling moments with her father and asked herself "what if the father were spinning his Dracula tales to his entranced daughter and Dracula were listening in? What if Dracula were still alive?" She immediately scratched out seven pages of notes into her writer's notebook. Two days later, she started work on

3399-572: The Ottomans , waging holy war upon them. More specifically, Amir Taheri in Asharq Alawsat argues that the novel highlights the relationship between the West and Turkey . The West, which is laden with the "dead" weight of this past (represented by the vampires) needs the help of Turkey (and perhaps the entire Muslim world) to recover. As Taheri points out, one of the most appealing characters in

3502-537: The setting and the fascinating European cities and countries which the story traverses: Amsterdam, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, France, Oxford, Switzerland and Italy. History and questions about its role in society pervade The Historian . In particular, the novel argues that knowledge of history is power, particularly as it is written in books. The title can refer to any of the major characters, including Dracula. As Nancy Baker explains in The Globe and Mail ,

3605-469: The 1970s. Although he eventually sends her home, she does not remain there. After finding letters addressed to her that reveal he has left on a quest to find her mother (previously believed to be dead), she sets out to find him. As is slowly made clear in the novel, Helen is the narrator's mother. The letters continue the story her father has been telling her. The narrator decides to travel to a monastery where she believes her father might be. Part II begins as

3708-511: The 2005 Quill Award for Debut Author of the Year. Sony has bought the film rights and, as of 2007, was planning an adaptation. How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated so that a history almost at variance with the possibilities of latter-day belief may stand forth as simple fact. There is throughout no statement of past things wherein memory may err, for all

3811-566: The British Empire. He was an admirer of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone , whom he knew personally, and supported his plans for Ireland. Stoker believed in progress and took a keen interest in science and science-based medicine. Some of Stoker's novels represent early examples of science fiction, such as The Lady of the Shroud (1909). He had a writer's interest in the occult, notably mesmerism , but despised fraud and believed in

3914-523: The Count in Stoker's novel was based on Vlad III Dracula . However, according to Elizabeth Miller , Stoker borrowed only the name and "scraps of miscellaneous information" about Romanian history; further, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes. Dracula is an epistolary novel , written as a collection of realistic but completely fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship's logs, and newspaper clippings, all of which added

4017-545: The Dracula myth surrounding him, and the mysterious book. Rossi traveled as far as Istanbul ; however, the appearance of curious characters and unexplained events caused him to drop his investigation and return to his graduate work. Rossi gives Paul his research notes and informs him that he believes Dracula is still alive. The bulk of the novel focuses on the 1950s timeline, which follows Paul's adventures. After meeting with Paul, Rossi disappears; smears of blood on his desk and

4120-721: The Gardens of Rest. His ashes are still stored in Golders Green Crematorium today. Stoker was raised a Protestant in the Church of Ireland . He was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and took a keen interest in Irish affairs. As a "philosophical home ruler", he supported Home Rule for Ireland brought about by peaceful means. He remained an ardent monarchist who believed that Ireland should remain within

4223-547: The Philosopher's Stone , only receive small initial print runs. Debut novels that do well will be reprinted as sales increase due to word of mouth popularity of the novels—publishers do not often run large marketing campaigns for debut novelists. There are numerous literary prizes for debut novels often associated with genre or nationality. These prizes are in recognition of the difficulties faced by debut novelists and bring attention to deserving works and authors. Some of

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4326-711: The Pickwick Club (1837), all of which lack the complexity or stylistic characteristics which audiences praise in the authors' later work. There are however some debut novels that are regarded as the author's masterpiece , for example Gustave Flaubert 's Madame Bovary , Joseph Heller 's Catch 22 , Günter Grass ' The Tin Drum and Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart . Sometimes, instead of writing novels to begin their career, some authors will start with short stories , which can be easier to publish and allow authors to get started in writing fiction. According to

4429-580: The age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years." He was privately educated at Bective House school run by the Reverend William Woods. After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete at Trinity College, Dublin , which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with

4532-592: The author gains a literary reputation. There are exceptions, however; YouTuber Zoella published her debut novel Girl Online in November 2014, and the book sold 78,109 copies in Britain in its first week. The novel saw huge sales because she already had an established audience, and publishers were willing to run a large print run. By comparison, bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey sold 14,814 copies in its first week, or later popular novels, like Harry Potter and

4635-471: The author's typical literary characteristics . Huffington Post ' s Dave Astor attributes these to two forces: first that authors are still learning their own unique style and audiences are more willing to read works from unknown authors if they resemble more conventional styles of literature. As examples, Astor points to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman (1969) and Charles Dickens' The Posthumous Papers of

4738-447: The best-known works in English literature and the novel has been adapted for numerous films, short stories and plays. Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent , Clontarf in Dublin, Ireland. The park adjacent to the house is now known as Bram Stoker Park. His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876), an Anglo-Irishman from Dublin and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), of English and Irish descent, who

4841-450: The book and it became the first debut novel to become number one on The New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale. As of 2005, it was the fastest-selling hardback debut novel in U.S. history. In general, the novel received mixed reviews. While some praised the book's description of the setting , others criticized its structure and lack of tonal variety. Kostova received the 2006 Book Sense award for Best Adult Fiction and

4944-494: The book. I reopened it, after a moment, and again stomach-churning fumes arose from its pages. The little volume seemed alive in my hands, yet it smelled like death. As Peter Bebergal explains in The Boston Globe , "Instead of fetishizing blood, Kostova fetishizes documents (manuscripts, maps, letters) and the places that house them (libraries, archives and monasteries)." As one critic explains, "the real horror rests in

5047-424: The boys, of the 'large family' dying together. For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you've seen that truth – really seen it – you can't look away. The novel's tone and structure place it within

5150-479: The categories of horror fiction, romanticized Gothic stories, and melodrama. They are classified alongside other works of popular fiction, such as Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein , which also used the myth-making and story-telling method of having multiple narrators telling the same tale from different perspectives. According to historian Jules Zanger, this leads the reader to the assumption that "they can't all be lying". The original 541-page typescript of Dracula

5253-536: The cause of death to overwork, others to tertiary syphilis . His death certificate listed the cause of death as " Locomotor ataxia 6 months", presumed to be a reference to syphilis. He was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium in north London. The ashes of Irving Noel Stoker, the author's son, were added to his father's urn following his death in 1961. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death, her ashes were scattered at

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5356-408: The ceiling of his office are the only traces that remain. Certain that something unfortunate has befallen his advisor, Paul begins to investigate Dracula. While in the university library he meets a young, dark-haired woman reading a copy of Bram Stoker 's Dracula . She is Helen Rossi, the daughter of Bartholomew Rossi, and she has become an expert on Dracula. Paul attempts to convince her that one of

5459-482: The degree of Master Mason on June 20, 1883." Stoker however was not a particular active Freemason, spent only six years as an active member, and did not take part in any Masonic activities during his time in London. The short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories was published in 1914 by Stoker's widow, Florence Stoker , who was also his literary executrix . The first film adaptation of Dracula

5562-467: The destruction of the negative and all prints of the film. The suit was finally resolved in the widow's favour in July 1925. A single print of the film survived, however, and it has become well known. The first authorised film version of Dracula did not come about until almost a decade later when Universal Studios released Tod Browning 's Dracula starring Bela Lugosi . Canadian writer Dacre Stoker ,

5665-522: The excitement of finding authors and writers without established legacies. In the same piece for the Times , Ayana Mathis describes the debut novel as "a piece of the writer's soul in a way that subsequent books can't ever be", because the novel is necessarily a work of passion and a product of all of their life before that moment. Often an author's first novel will not be as complex stylistically or thematically as subsequent works and often will not feature

5768-442: The family traveled across Europe. According to Kostova, "It was the formative experience of my childhood." She "was fascinated by [her father's Dracula stories] because they were ... from history in a way, even though they weren't about real history, but I heard them in these beautiful historic places." Kostova's interest in books and libraries began early as well. Her mother, a librarian, frequently took her and her sisters to

5871-629: The film rights to the novel for $ 1.5 million , but has yet to go into production. Debut novel Sometimes new novelists will self-publish their debut novels, because publishing houses will not risk the capital needed to market books by an unknown author to the public. Most publishers purchase rights to novels, especially debut novels, through literary agents , who screen client work before sending it to publishers. These hurdles to publishing reflect both publishers' limits in resources for reviewing and publishing unknown works, and that readers typically buy more books from established authors with

5974-546: The first week alone. As of the middle of August 2005, the novel had already sold 915,000 copies in the U.S. and had gone through six printings. (For comparison, according to Publishers Weekly , only ten fiction books sold more than 800,000 hardcover copies in the US in 2004.) Little, Brown and Company also released an edition of Dracula in September 2005 with an introduction by Kostova, thinking her readers would want to delve into

6077-434: The high price as a result of a bidding war between firms' believing that they might have the next Da Vinci Code within their grasp. One vice-president and associate publisher said, "Given the success of The Da Vinci Code , everybody around town knows how popular the combination of thriller and history can be and what a phenomenon it can become." Little, Brown and Company subsequently sold the rights in 28 countries. The book

6180-403: The highly anticipated City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg captured the attention of ten publishers who started a bidding war that ended with Knopf buying the rights to the book for 2 million dollars. The book's film production rights were purchased soon after by producer Scott Rudin . For similar reasons that advances are frequently not very large—novels frequently do not sell well until

6283-442: The librarians is trying to prevent their research into Dracula, but she is unpersuaded. Later, the librarian attacks and bites Helen. Paul intervenes and overpowers him, but he wriggles free. The librarian is then run over by a car in front of the library and apparently killed. Upon hearing her father's story, the narrator becomes interested in the mystery and begins researching Dracula as she and her father travel across Europe during

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6386-414: The location of Dracula's tomb and to meet with Helen's mother, who they believe may have knowledge of Rossi – the two had met during his travels to Romania in the 1930s. For the first time Helen hears of her mother and Rossi's torrid love affair. Paul and Helen learn much, for example that Helen's mother, and therefore Helen herself and the narrator, are descendants of Vlad Țepeș. Part III begins with

6489-752: The major characters seemed more like "disembodied tour guides". Polly Shulman of Newsday also argued that the book "fail[s] to grapple with its supposed themes: evil, death and history". She saw "little of the terror of these periods" in the novel and little of the tension between the Islamic East and the Christian West. The 12-hour abridged audio book, released by Time Warner , is narrated by six different actors ( Joanne Whalley , Martin Jarvis , Dennis Boutsikaris , Jim Ward , Rosalyn Landor and Robin Atkin Downes ). Boutsikaris' voicing of Paul has been called "flat" while Publishers Weekly complained that it

6592-405: The monastery Saint-Matthieu-des-Pyrénées-Orientales, Helen feels Dracula's presence and is compelled to jump off a cliff. Landing on grass, she survives and decides to hunt him down and kill him in order to rid herself of his threat and her fears. When the narrator arrives at Saint-Matthieu-des-Pyrénées-Orientales, she finds her father. Individuals mentioned throughout the 1970s timeline converge in

6695-485: The monastery by political officials and by the vampire librarian – all of them are seeking Dracula's tomb, but it is empty when they arrive. Paul and Helen move to the United States, marry, and Helen gives birth to the narrator. However, she becomes depressed a few months afterwards. She later confesses that she feared the taint of the vampiric bite that she acquired earlier would infect her child. The family travels to Europe in an attempt to cheer her up. When they visit

6798-866: The more prestigious awards around the world include the American Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award , the French Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman , the British Guardian First Book Award , the German Aspekte-Literaturpreis and the Japanese Noma Literary Prize . The New York Times commentator Leslie Jamison described the big, and often very public, "to do" about debut novels and novelists created by these book awards, as associated with

6901-426: The multiple timelines and narrators of the novel were not sufficiently differentiated. Several reviewers complained that the climax of the novel was a disappointment and that Dracula was not terrifying. According to Paul Wagenbreth of The News-Gazette , the novel's fundamental weakness is that after the slow buildup, "there is a final shying away from a full rendering of the nature of the beast. ... there's

7004-459: The narrator reads descriptions of her father and Helen's travels through Eastern Europe during the 1950s. While on their travels, Helen and Paul conclude that Rossi might have been taken by Dracula to his tomb. They travel to Istanbul to find the archives of Sultan Mehmed II , which Paul believes contain information regarding the location of the tomb. They fortuitously meet Professor Turgut Bora from Istanbul University , who has also discovered

7107-409: The nature of man is evil, sublimely so. Good is not perfectible, but evil is. Why should you not use your great mind in service of what is perfectible? ... There is no purity like the purity of the sufferings of history. You will have what every historian wants: history will be reality to you. We will wash our minds clean with blood. As Kostova explains, "Dracula is a metaphor for the evil that

7210-498: The notes was created by Elizabeth Miller and Robert Eighteen-Bisang in 1998. Stoker was a member of The London Library and conducted much of the research for Dracula there . In 2018, the Library discovered some of the books that Stoker used for his research, complete with notes and marginalia. After suffering a number of strokes, Stoker died at No. 26 St George's Square , London on 20 April 1912. Some biographers attribute

7313-545: The novel in USA Today , Entertainment Weekly and Newsweek . Kostova was billed as the next literary phenomenon, the next Alice Sebold or Susanna Clarke . The Historian was the first debut novel to land at number one on The New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale, and as of 2005 was the fastest-selling hardback debut novel in U.S. history. The book sold more copies on its first day in print than The Da Vinci Code  – 70,000 copies were sold in

7416-402: The novel is "about the love of books" and the knowledge and comfort they offer the characters – even Dracula himself is a bibliophile. As one critic explains, the novel is specifically about the love of scholarship. At the heart of the novel is an exploration of "the power and price of scholarly obsession". As Paul explains in the novel: It is a fact that we historians are interested in what

7519-515: The novel is Professor Bora, a Turkish professor who is part of an ancient Ottoman society dedicated to defeating Dracula. Taheri emphasizes that the novel highlights that "Western civilisation and Islam have common enemies represented by 'vampires' such as postmodernism in Europe and obscurantism in the Muslim world". The Historian amounts to something profound, messy, and wondrously mathematical at times ... We encounter obsession, possession, and

7622-532: The novel was "strikingly fresh and unformulaic". Baker praised Kostova's prose, saying that it "has a leisurely grace". Francis Atkinson of The Age praised the "Gothic sensuality" of the novel. However, some thought the book was too long, or criticized Kostova's lack of tonal variety; Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times that the book was "ponderous" and had a "contorted narrative structure". Jane Stevenson of The Observer agreed, noting that

7725-615: The novel's publication. She met with book retailers who, impressed with her presentation, bought large numbers of the book. As an article in The Age explains, "By the time it arrived in the bookstores, The Historian had already made the news several times". As soon as the book was published in June, Kostova went on a 15-city tour, including book signings and readings, which prompted further media reports on it. She appeared on ABC's Good Morning America on 28 June, and there were stories about

7828-550: The novel. Kostova finished the novel in January 2004 and sent it to a potential literary agent in March. Two months later and within two days of sending out her manuscript to publishers, Kostova was offered a deal – she refused it. The rights to the book were auctioned off and Little, Brown and Company bought them for US$ 2 million (US$ 30,000 is typical for a first novel from an unknown author). Publishers Weekly explained

7931-473: The novel. At the time she was teaching English as a second language, creative writing and composition classes at universities in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. She moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan , entered the writing program at the University of Michigan and finished the book as she was obtaining her Master of Fine Arts degree. Kostova did extensive research about Eastern Europe and Vlad Țepeș . She found

8034-799: The official china of the Third Reich. His dogs, two enormous German shepherds, patrolled the front yard day and night. Over drinks with other faculty members, he told me in no uncertain terms how he despised Hitler's crimes and wanted to expose them in the greatest possible detail to the outside world. I left the party early, walking carefully past those big dogs, unable to shake my revulsion. The novel explores questions of good and evil and as Jessica Treadway states in The Chicago Tribune , it "is intriguing for its thorough examination of what constitutes evil and why it exists". For example, Dracula at one point asks Rossi: History has taught us that

8137-694: The only student in Trinity's history to hold both positions), where his first paper was on Sensationalism in Fiction and Society . Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student through his friend Dr. Maunsell. While working for the Irish Civil Service , he became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail , which was co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu , an author of Gothic tales. Theatre critics were held in low esteem at

8240-464: The original edition" along with their own research for the sequel. This also marked Dacre Stoker's writing debut. In spring 2012, Dacre Stoker in collaboration with Elizabeth Miller presented the "lost" Dublin Journal written by Bram Stoker, which had been kept by his great-grandson Noel Dobbs. Stoker's diary entries shed a light on the issues that concerned him before his London years. A remark about

8343-426: The original novel after reading hers. Kostova is one of the few female bestselling authors, but her popularity is unusual because it is founded on a literary novel. Reviews of the novel were "at best, mixed". Several reviewers noted that Kostova described the setting of her novel well; Laura Miller of Salon.com , for example, wrote that "Kostova has a genius for evoking places". Malcolm Jones of Newsweek wrote that

8446-401: The possibility of what Dracula truly is". For example, the narrator comments: The thing that most haunted me that day, however, as I closed my notebook and put my coat on to go home, was not my ghostly image of Dracula, or the description of impalement, but the fact that these things had – apparently – actually occurred. If I listened too closely, I thought, I would hear the screams of

8549-490: The public library – they were each allowed to check out 30 books and had a special shelf for their library books. She listened to recordings of Balkan folk music as a child and became interested in the tradition. Later, she sang in and directed a Slavic chorus while an undergraduate at Yale University . She and some friends traveled to Eastern Europe in 1989, specifically Bulgaria and Bosnia , to study local musical customs. The recordings they made will be deposited in

8652-469: The records chosen are exactly contemporary, given from the stand-points and within the range of knowledge of those who made them. —Epigraph to Part One of The Historian from Bram Stoker 's Dracula (1897) The Historian interweaves the history and folklore of Vlad Țepeș , a 15th-century prince of Wallachia known as "Vlad the Impaler", and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula together with

8755-423: The serious literary tradition for which Kostova was aiming. For example, the alternating timelines are suggestive of A. S. Byatt 's Possession (1990) and the intermingling of academia and the occult suggests Arturo Perez-Reverte 's The Club Dumas (1993). Although many reviewers compared The Historian to Dan Brown 's historical thriller The Da Vinci Code (2003), Kostova has said her book "is part of

8858-458: The story of Paul, a professor; his 16-year-old daughter; and their quest for Vlad's tomb. The novel ties together three separate narratives using letters and oral accounts: that of Paul's mentor in the 1930s, that of Paul in the 1950s, and that of the narrator herself in the 1970s. The tale is told primarily from the perspective of Paul's daughter, who is never named. Part I opens in 1972 Amsterdam . The narrator finds an old vellum -bound book with

8961-496: The struggle against the brevity of life. It is an exploration of the eternal desire for intimacy. The innocent are as vulnerable as the woefully enlightened. They just do not know it yet. —Saffron Burrows Little, Brown and Company spent $ 500,000 heavily promoting The Historian . In what Publishers Weekly called a "carefully calibrated advertising campaign", 7,000 advance copies were sent to booksellers, and in January 2005 Kostova began her book promotion tour six months before

9064-617: The subject matter of the talk was that Vambery 'spoke loudly against Russian aggression.'" There had been nothing in their conversations about the "tales of the terrible Dracula" that are supposed to have "inspired Stoker to equate his vampire-protagonist with the long-dead tyrant." At any rate, by this time, Stoker's novel was well underway, and he was already using the name Dracula for his vampire. Stoker then spent several years researching Central and East European folklore and mythological stories of vampires . The 1972 book In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally claimed that

9167-947: The superiority of the scientific method over superstition. Stoker counted among his friends J. W. Brodie-Innis , a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , and hired member Pamela Colman Smith as an artist for the Lyceum Theatre, but no evidence suggests that Stoker ever joined the Order himself. Like Irving, who was an active Freemason , Stoker also became a member of the order, "initiated into Freemasonry in Buckingham and Chandos Lodge No. 1150 in February 1883, passed in April of that same year, and raised to

9270-528: The term becoming more widely used after about 1980, gaining in popularity since. Bram Stoker Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is best known for writing the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula . During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End 's Lyceum Theatre , which Irving owned. In his early years, Stoker worked as

9373-709: The time, but Stoker attracted notice by the quality of his reviews. In December 1876, he gave a favourable review of Henry Irving's Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel where he was staying, and they became friends. Stoker also wrote stories, and "Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society in 1872, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock . In 1876, while

9476-484: The university's Philosophical Society while he was president. Wilde was upset at Florence's decision, but Stoker later resumed the acquaintanceship, and, after Wilde's fall, visited him on the Continent. The Stokers moved to London, where Stoker became acting manager and then business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre in the West End , a post he held for 27 years. On 31 December 1879, Bram and Florence's only child

9579-494: Was F. W. Murnau 's Nosferatu , released in 1922, with Max Schreck starring as Count Orlok. Florence Stoker eventually sued the filmmakers, and was represented by the attorneys of the British Incorporated Society of Authors. Her chief legal complaint was that she had neither been asked for permission for the adaptation nor paid any royalty. The case dragged on for some years, with Mrs. Stoker demanding

9682-449: Was "nonchalant and impersonal". They also singled out the voicing of Dracula for criticism, writing that "his accent and delivery is exactly the stereotypical vampire voice used by everyone from Bela Lugosi to Sesame Street 's the Count ". There is swelling orchestral music at the beginning and end of each chapter, of which the reviewers approved. The 26-hour unabridged audio book, released by Books on Tape (a division of Random House ),

9785-785: Was a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland between 1892 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books. Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: The Watter's Mou' (1895) and The Mystery of the Sea (1902). He started writing Dracula there in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel. The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives. The nearby Slains Castle (also known as New Slains Castle )

9888-404: Was believed to have been lost until it was found in a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. It consisted of typed sheets with many emendations, and handwritten on the title page was "THE UN-DEAD." The author's name was shown at the bottom as Bram Stoker. Author Robert Latham remarked: "the most famous horror novel ever published, its title changed at the last minute." The typescript

9991-424: Was born, a son whom they christened Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. The collaboration with Henry Irving was important for Stoker and through him, he became involved in London's high society, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (to whom he was distantly related). Working for Irving, the most famous actor of his time, and managing one of the most successful theatres in London made Stoker

10094-587: Was inspired by Victorian writers such as Wilkie Collins ; his novel The Moonstone (1868), with its plot twists and bevy of narrators, was "a major model". The primary literary ancestor of The Historian , however, is Bram Stoker 's Dracula (1897). For example, in The Historian and Dracula , the protagonist is both fascinated and repulsed by Dracula. Both are told through a series of letters and memoirs. The Historian also includes many intertextual references to Stoker's work – Dracula even owns

10197-527: Was invited twice to the White House , and knew William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt . Stoker set two of his novels in America, and used Americans as characters, the most notable being Quincey Morris . He also met one of his literary idols, Walt Whitman , having written to him in 1872 an extraordinary letter that some have interpreted as the expression of a deeply-suppressed homosexuality. Stoker

10300-600: Was part of the literary staff of The Daily Telegraph in London, and he wrote other fiction, including the horror novels The Lady of the Shroud (1909) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911). He published his Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving in 1906, after Irving's death, which proved successful, and managed productions at the Prince of Wales Theatre . Before writing Dracula , Stoker met Ármin Vámbéry ,

10403-498: Was published in the United States on 14 June 2005. The Historian has been described as a combination of genres, including the Gothic novel , the adventure novel , the detective novel , the travelogue , the postmodern historical novel, the epistolary epic , and the historical thriller . Kostova wanted to write a serious literary novel, with scholarly heroes, that was at the same time reminiscent of 19th-century adventures. She

10506-557: Was purchased by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen . Stoker's inspirations for the story, in addition to Whitby, may have included a visit to Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire , a visit to the crypts of St. Michan's Church in Dublin, and the novella Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu . Stoker's original research notes for the novel are kept by the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia . A facsimile edition of

10609-461: Was raised in County Sligo . Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker , 1st Baronet . Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there. Abraham was a senior civil servant. Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at

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