book review with crossword – Read First Chapter.com

Book Review and Crossword – The Indian Fan by Victoria Holt

DESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON.com:

A gothic thriller full of romance, murder, and mayhem. It begins with a priceless heirloom that turns into a horrible curse…

A parson’s daughter, Druscilla Delaney is enthralled by her wealthy, glamorous neighbors—the Framlings—and their handsome son, Fabian. They gift her a priceless heirloom, a beautiful fan, but what happens when this fan turns into a curse? Everything changes.

Beautiful as its peacock feathers may be, the fan hidden deep in the Framling mansion has a legacy of death and destruction. Druscilla has no idea she’s been marked by it. Her life is in danger.

Will the fan’s dark past prove less of a danger than Fabian Framling himself though? Dark, brooding, and dominating, could he be the one to save her from the fan’s cruel fate or do the opposite: cause her death?

Including elements of historical romance and romantic suspense, The India Fan is a spellbinding tale from the Queen of Gothic Romance. Fast paced and gripping for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, and Daphne Du Maurier.

“A mesmerizing story of blackmail, romance, and deception.”—Associated Press

REVIEW AS A READER:

cartoon-cat-reading-chillin I purchased this book based on reading another of Victoria Holt’s books. I wasn’t instantly in love with this book but the author’s writing style is so beautiful, that alone kept me going. However, I slowly fell in love with the characters — but not because they were great people, most of them were flawed in one way or another. I fell in love with the story itself and how it all unfolded to the main character, Drusilla.

Although this was not a classic gothic story, it was a story about aristocrats and the working class, the differences between them, and how it affects everyone involved in the story. So it had a gothic feel to it because there was a mystery or two that laced all the way through the story.

The story contained a few historical elements but only in a general way. The drama took place at a time when the British ruled India and the Indians had enough of it. There was tension in the air and this added to the suspense of the book. Without too much dry historical information, the conflict between the two sides played out in the drama among and between all of the characters. It’s a story wasn’t political at all. It explained only in a cursory way both sides of the conflict. Ms. Holt presented the story from characters on both sides of the conflict.

This was a family saga. The narrative took place over half a lifetime, and the characters grew and changed within the changing drama. There were two love interests on Drusilla’s mind and it wasn’t revealed which way she would go until the last few pages. I was guessing the entire way through.

This is the third book I’ve read by Victoria Hold. The book was as beautifully written as the other two. The story is filled with interesting characters right out of Hollywood. The narrative was gripping, suspenseful, mysterious and hauntingly sad at certain times. I absolutely loved this book and I would give it 5 stars and will read it again I’m sure.

MY REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:

I learned quite a bit as an author from this novel. I didn’t realize it would be a saga when I picked it up but the story was so riveting that it went fast. It wasn’t until about three-quarters of the way through the book that I realized the story had covered decades of time.

It was interesting and enlightening to see how Ms. Holt handled the passage of time. She cleverly and sometimes casually mentioned the passage of a few years here and there, and the story continued its natural flow.

The story was also broken into sections that made it easier for the reader to remember where the drama was taking place. There was a section called India; and then another section titled England when they returned. Even if a reader put the book down, it would have been easy to figure out where everyone was with a flip of a few pages.

Ms. Holt had a way of adding just enough historical information to enrich the story and yet, not enough to call this a historical fiction. This was a big eye opener. I’m so used to reading these big research dumps in fiction that I was surprised but pleased by Victoria Holt’s brevity. She used no real dates or formal event names. There was only a passing mention of what was in the air around them and how it was affecting everyone. As an author, I stood in awe of her ability to write with this type of know-how and flair.

HOW I KEEP TRACK AS AN AUTHOR:

I wanted to pass on my technique in case this blog post is being read by other authors. I would love to hear other authors’ reviews of books as a reader and author.

I read on the Kindle app on a 10 inch tablet. I use the yellow highlighter to underscore any character names, story-changing action and anything else I want to remember. Then I use my blue highlighter as a author to highlight my favorite turn of phrases, which I will post below. I use blue to also keep track of any words or historical terms I want to note in a large file I’ve been nursing lately.

Reading in the kindle app allows you to look up any word that comes up that’s unfamiliar. I love this technology and I highlight in blue if I want to make sure I put this on my list of words to learn and yellow if I manage to add a note with the definition if it’s only a word or two.

Occasionally, I will use my orange highlighter to point out something that is unusual about the book or a section I want to make a note about or revisit after I finish the book. This allows me to go back and take the time to see what captured my attention during the read and take another look after I finish the story.

ANOTHER EXERCISE I THINK IS HELPFUL:

I plan to write a bit more gothic romance myself when I’m done with my present book – the fifth and final book in my Newport Vampire Series. As I read through gothic books at this time, I’m keeping a running list of architectural terms, castle-part terms, gothic atmospheric terms, anything that I may want to reference as I enter into this new area of writing.

I would love to know if anyone else does this!

I’ve already rated the book five stars as a reader and I would also rate this book as a five star as an author read. It is a great book to see how an author adds history to enrich the story, how to handle the passage of time, character development, how to present a decade’s long family saga and more. So if you’re just breaking into the gothic romance area or you want to see the difference between adding a little history verses writing an actual historical novel, this is great choice.

MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

She was spoken of in hushed whispers as though those who mentioned her feared they might be taking her name in vain; in my youthful mind she ranked with the Queen and was second only to God.
I looked fearfully at the portraits. They seemed like real people regarding me severely for having trespassed into their domain. This shows the author giving the pictures a personality while passing over background information.
There was a lump in my throat. I did not cry. Crying for me was for lighter emotions. Something within me was deeply hurt and I believed that the wound would be with me forever.
She did not mention Him because he was dead, and when people died, I realized, their sins were washed away by the all-important respect.
It was what is referred to as the cockney spirit; and it certainly seemed to be a product of the streets of London.
She had small hands and feet and sailed rather than walked, her voluminous skirt making a gentle swishing noise as she moved.
I thought of a sharp retort, but I spoke gently, for there is something more than ordinarily pathetic about the arrogant when they are brought low. I was looking at a very frightened girl, as well she might be.
It was a bitter blow to my pride rather than to my deep emotions.
He looked at me rather conspiratorially . . .
. . . poor old man who seemed nothing but rags and bones.
Often great beauty will disguise emptiness and sometimes evil.
Then there was a shattering explosion. [spoiler removal] threw up his hands. I heard the knife fall to the ground; he reeled drunkenly before he collapsed in a heap at my feet.The fact that we were women and children and elderly people would not save us. This was a war against a race, not against individual people.

CROSSWORD BASED ON THE INDIA FAN BY VICTORIA HOLT

Crossword-Indian-Fan-Victoria-Holt Click here to do the crossword puzzle online

Click here to download the crossword, the clues and the answers as a pdf from Google Drive

Book Review – Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula-book-cover DESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON.com:

During a business visit to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, a young English solicitor finds himself at the center of a series of horrifying incidents. Jonathan Harker is attacked by three phantom women, observes the Count’s transformation from human to bat form, and discovers puncture wounds on his own neck that seem to have been made by teeth.

Harker returns home upon his escape from Dracula’s grim fortress, but a friend’s strange malady — involving sleepwalking, inexplicable blood loss, and mysterious throat wounds — initiates a frantic vampire hunt. The popularity of Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror romance is as deathless as any vampire. Its supernatural appeal has spawned a host of film and stage adaptations, and more than a century after its initial publication, it continues to hold readers spellbound.

REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:

Cat-as-book-reviewer I usually start with my review as a reader but today I have to start with my review as an author. I have read this book at least twice, maybe even more, and find the story wonderful — but only because I’ve seen movies that stuck very closely to the storyline.

I found the technique of telling the story through a series of letters VERY CONFUSING. Extremely confusing. Reading through the letters as a reader, it is enjoyable and they do add to the element of suspense and a low-grade horror that continues through the book. However, after reading the book several times, I would never have been able to give an account of who everyone was and where they all went in the story. That was all too elusive with going back and forth between the letters from different people and then back to the narrative itself.

SPOILER ALERT – QUICK SYNOPSIS OF THE PLOTLINE

spoiler-alert So for anyone who wants to see the action laid out quickly, read below. There are spoilers, so don’t read this part if you don’t want to spoil the book plot for yourself. I personally don’t care about spoilers as sometimes I enjoy books or movies better when I know ahead of time what to watch for!

That being said, here is a quick synopsis of what happens with the actual itinerary:

Harker goes to Dracula’s castle in the Carpathian Mountains. Dracula is weird and there are women there that attack him. He winds up sick and unconscious in a hospital in Budapest.
Dracula takes a ship called the Demeter to England where he has purchased an estate house. He brings several boxes of earth from his homeland, Transylvania.
The captain of the Demeter leaves a log behind which narrates how all the crew disappear or end up dead one at a time. At some point, he is alone, he binds himself to the ship/mast, and he arrives in port in England dead too.
Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray are best friends. Lucy writes to Mina telling her she has been proposed to by three men: Dr. John Seward, Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood. She chooses Holmwood but they all remain friends.
Lucy invites Mina on vacation with her. Since Jonathan has gone to deliver real estate papers to Dracula, she joins Lucy on holiday in Whitby, which is where Dracula’s ship lands.
Mina then receives a letter about her fiancé’s illness (Jonathan Harker) and she travels to Budapest to nurse him.
While she’s gone, Lucy begins sleepwalking while still away in Whitby. Dracula stalks Lucy. Lucy becomes very ill but no one knows why.
Professor Abraham Van Helsing comes to diagnose Lucy but he refuses to disclose the real reason for her illness. Instead, he diagnoses her with acute blood-loss. Van Helsing places garlic flowers around Lucy’s sick room and makes her a necklace of them. Her mother, who has no idea they are to ward off vampires, innocently removes them from Lucy and from the room.
A wolf then shows up and terrifies Lucy and her mother. Mrs. Westenra dies of a heart attack. Then Lucy dies shortly thereafter.
After Lucy’s burial, newspaper reports children being stalked in the night by a beautiful woman and Dr. Van Helsing deduces it is Lucy who has now arisen as a vampiress. He decides he has to do something.
The four men (Van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, Dr. John Seward, and Quincey Morris) go to Lucy’s tomb and see that she is now a vampire. They stake her heart, behead her, and fill her mouth with garlic. Lucy as a vampiress is now taken care of. The men now decide to go after Dracula too.
Jonathan Harker and his now-wife Mina have returned to England and they join the campaign against Dracula.
As they go off to hunt Dracula, they stay at Dr. Seward’s asylum. Van Helsing finally reveals to them that vampires can only rest on earth from their homeland.
Dracula communicates with Sewart’s patient, Mr. Renfield, an insane man who eats flies, vermin, and birds to absorb their life force. He learns of the men’s plot against him and he uses Renfield to enter the asylum.
He attacks Mina three times, drinking her blood and forcing her to drink his blood on the final visit. She is now cursed to become a vampire after her death unless Dracula is killed.
After a search, the men find Dracula’s properties and they find many boxes of dirt (Transylvania earth) within. They open each box of earth and seal pieces of consecrated Catholic Hosts, sacramental bread, inside each box, now rendering them useless to Dracula.
They try to trap the Count in his Piccadilly house but he escapes. They learn he is fleeing back to his castle in Transylvania with his last box of dirt.
Van Helsing, knowing Mina still has at least a psychic connection to Dracula, hypnotizes her to track Dracula’s whereabouts on his escape route.
In Galatz Romania, the group splits up. Dr. Van Helsing and Mina go to Dracula’s castle where the professor destroys the vampiresses.
Jonathan Harker and Arthur Holmwood go off to find Dracula’s boat on the river, while Quincey Morris and John Seward parallel them on the land on the river bank.
They find the box and once Dracula’s coffin is loaded onto a wagon by Romani men, the hunters converge and attack it. There is a big fight with the Romani men and Quincy is wounded.
After catching up with the others, Harker decapitates Dracula as Quincy stakes him in the heart. Dracula crumbles to dust, freeing Mina from her vampiric curse.
Quincy is mortally wounded in the fight against the Romani. He dies at peace knowing that Mina will be okay.
Seven years later, there is a note indicating that the Harkers now have a son named Quincey.

WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT THE BOOK:

Now that I got my negative review about telling a story with letters out of the way, I’ll go into what is great about the book. First of all, the story was so original. Even today, the story maintains its originality in it’s prose, it’s atmosphere and the storyline itself. It has lost nothing over the years. It reads as a historical novel, but it does not read as dated one bit.

As an author, I read in awe of Bram Stoker. There was no vampire genre at the time. There were similar horror-like creatures written about before Bram Stoken wrote this story, but in my humble opinion, 95% of his story is unique and pulled entirely from his imagination. This is why although there may have been one or two books written before his, Dracula is the one that kickstarted the entire vampire genre.

On top of the horror story about Dracula, the mini story about the mental patient Renfield could have been a follow-up book. It too was so original, fascinating, a classic horror tale.

Although I didn’t like the narrative device of using letters, the story itself was five stars. It was and still is a classic gothic vampire story. It contains all of the scary, errie, weird, unsettling, suspenseful and horrific elements, none of which are dated or have lost one bit of their effect. I have listed below some of my favorite turn of phrases and I hope you enjoy them.

IF I HAD TO READ THIS AGAIN:

If I had to or chose to read this book again, which I will, I would read through the narrative I pieced together above — from my own book notes and the help of Wikipedia for proper names — before starting out. This is another instance where I think a list of characters in the beginning of the novel would be helpful to the reader.

If the reader removes the job of trying to keep whose letters one is reading and what is happening before or simultaneously, it would make the story much more enjoyable.

MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

The road was rugged, but still we seemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.
The dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road — a long, agonized wailing, as if from fear.
At the first howl, the horses began to strain and rear, but the driver spoke to them soothingly, and they quieted down, but shivered and sweated as though after a runaway from sudden fright.
Then, far off in the distance, from the mountains on each side of us began a louder and a sharper howling — that of wolves — which affected both the horses and myself in the same way — for I was minded to jump from the caleche and run, whilst they reared again and plunged madly, so that the driver had to use all his great strength to keep them from bolting.
Blazed with a demonic fury . . .
Made a grab at my throat
This describes the last seaman who was found on the ship: The searchlight followed her (the ship), and a shudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship.

CROSSWORD BASED ON DRACULA BY BRAM STOKER: