From the back cover:

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history.

In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth.

What does the legend of Dracula have to do with the modern world? The answer to this question crosses time and borders, from the archive libraries of Oxford to Istanbul and Budapest, and into the depths of Eastern Europe. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil.

Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions; a captivating tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful - and utterly unforgettable.

I read this book as part of a bookring back in February, and I loved it so much that I bought my own copy. These are my comments from back in February:

I really loved this book. No, it wasn't fast moving or suspenseful, but I'm not sure that it was actually supposed to be (despite what it says on the back cover). However, it was spine-tingling in a hair-raising-on-the-back-of-your-neck kind of way, especially at night time! The historical information was captivating, from churches to folklore, the Ottoman empire, and Dracula, too. It's gotten me interested in a whole range of subjects that I'd never really thought about previously, and I'll definitely be doing some further reading to expand my suddenly broadened horizons! :-)

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