What does the legend of Dracula have to do with the modern world? The answer to this question crosses time andborders, 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.

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'. Herdiscovery 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 andborders, 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 monumentalproportions; a captivating tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful and utterly unforgettable.