Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker »

Syrie James is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte, selected by the Women's National Book Association as a Great Group Read of 2009, and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, which became an international bestseller and was named a Best First Novel of 2008 by the Library Journal. Translation rights for Syrie's books have been sold in fourteen languages. An admitted Anglophile, she lives in Los Angeles and is a member of the Writer's Guild of America.

Acclaimed author Syrie James approaches Bram Stoker's classic Dracula with a breathtaking new perspective—as, for the first time, Mina Harker records the shocking story of her scandalous seduction and sexual rebirth.

Who is this magnetic, fascinating man? And how could one woman fall so completely under his spell?

Mina Harker is torn between two men. Struggling to hang on to the deep, pure love she's found within her marriage to her husband, Jonathan, she is inexorably drawn into a secret, passionate affair with a charismatic but dangerous lover. This haunted and haunting creature has awakened feelings and desires within her that she has never before known, which remake her as a woman.

Although everyone she knows fears him and is pledged to destroy him, Mina sees a side to him that the others cannot: a tender, romantic side; a man who's taken full advantage of his gift of immortality to expand his mind and talents; a man who is deeply in love, and who may not be evil after all. Yet to surrender is surely madness, for to be with him could end her life. It may cost Mina all she holds dear, but to make her choice she must learn everything she can about the remarkable origins and sensuous powers of this man, this exquisite monster, this . . . Dracula!

Publishers Weekly

James provides a rich revisiting of the Dracula story through Mina's "secret journal," which introduces an abundance of loopholes, alternate plot paths, and re-interpretations of the original characters. Justine Eyre proves a strong narrator as the first-person voice of Mina; she keeps a solid and clear English accent while switching fluently into other accented voices, including Quincy Morris, a Texan; Dr. Van Helsing, a Dutchman; and the Transylvanian Dracula. Through pauses, pace, and emphasis, she builds tension during the more pitched moments, but also keeps the exposition and contemplative moments engaging without being overdramatic. Eyre is particularly adept at vocalizing Mina's inner turmoil as Mina is torn between Dracula's erotic hold over her and the more steady (and sane) appeal of Jonathan. An Avon paperback (Reviews, June 21). (Aug.)