As fan fiction goes, Syrie James’s is some of the best. I first read her Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen a few years back, and she also wrote The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen. I lost track of her after that, so I was delighted to find a paperback copy of Dracula, My Love at Half Price Books. Now, let’s be clear, this is a fun, fairly quick read in which James fills in some of the gaps left by Bram Stoker and writes the whole thing from Mina’s point of view. It is not attempting to provide literary heft, although James’s writing is solid. Mina was always my favorite character besides Quincy Morris. I mean he was a Texan, and he did represent pretty well. 🙂 He also gets to die a hero, so there’s that.
In James’s version, and I don’t think there are any spoilers here given the title, Mina and Dracula carry on a clandestine romance the whole time Van Helsing and the boys are trying to find and kill Dracula. If that seems like it might be a bridge too far, just go with it. If you are a fan of Stoker’s book (I am) and if you enjoy decent fan fiction ( I sometimes do) then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Mina comes off slightly unsympathetic, but maybe that’s just me. It is interesting to see how James’s Dracula explains all the vile deeds attributed to him by Van Helsing et al. Jonathan becomes a fuller character in James’s telling and the reader is rooting for him all the way to the twist at the end, which the astute reader will see coming a mile off. That doesn’t make it less satisfying. If you are in the market for something fun with classic ties, give this one a try, I think you’ll like it.
Discussion Questions (in case your book club decides to read it):
- How does Dracula appeal to Mina at the beginning? What do you think is missing at first in her relationship with Jonathan?
- Do you believe all of Mr. Wagner/Dracula’s explanations for events, why or why not?
- Do you think Mina’s backstory with her parents adds to the book, why or why not?
- If you had to get rid of one of the characters, which one would it be and why?
- Which decisions of Mina’s would you also have made, and which would you not have? What about at the end, would you have chosen as Mina did? How do you think Dracula’s supernatural magnetism plays into the choices Mina makes?
- If you had eternal youth and life, what would you do?