Theodora Lestrange rejects the role Victorian society deems proper for women. She takes her small inheritance and travels to Transylvania to visit her friend Cosmina. Transylvania, the land of legends, is the perfect place to give Theodora inspiration for her first novel. Her first impressions of Transylvania prove Cosmina's description of a land steeped in ancient history with tales of vampires and werewolves. Arriving at the village below the neglected and decaying castle, Theodora is met with a sedan chair where peasants will carry her 1000 steps to the castle. Theodora quickly ascertains the feudal system still survives. When she meets the brooding Count Dragulescu, he projects hero qualities that intrigue Theodora.

When Count Andrei Dragulescu sees Theodora's interest in him, he encourages it. He promotes the peasant's tales of ghost, vampires and werewolves. For Andrei needs a distraction from the rumors of the supernatural that swirl around his family. Seducing Theodora should not prove difficult. Fear of the unknown draws Theodora, and the castle with its haunting stories gives him ample tales. His plan proceeds until a brutal murder occurs in the castle.

Andrei and the superstitious villagers convince Theodora that evil does dwell within the castle. Pagan ceremonies are performed and herbs are given to her for protection against the evil. Something is very wrong, but Theodora cannot leave Andrei to investigate alone.

I've said it before and I cannot emphasize it enough, Ms. Raybourn channels Daphne Du Maurier. Her latest tale is filled with atmospheric Gothic overtones. The castle, shrouded in mystery, along with Theodora's first-person account, provides an eerie atmosphere. Ms. Raybourn creates a world where the impossible becomes possible.

Book Summary

With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh—and a disappointed suitor—far behind. She is bound for Rumania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence.

She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians, replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle's master, Count Andrei Dragulescu.

Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora's imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute—Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway.

Before her sojourn is ended—or her novel completed—Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal…and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire.

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