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sarina_langer's review
4.0
Friends, if you love eerie gothic fiction and victorian literature, then you don't want to miss this! Mr Stoker & I fits its time period perfectly and reads just like one of those classics you adore. Becky Wright has taken one of the most loved ones of all time, and asked how it might have been inspired. Loved Dracula? You'll feel right at home in this dark, emotional tale, where Mr Stoker himself has the important role of unbiased listener to a girl who desperately needs one after all the pain--emotional, psychological, and physical--her own family put her through.
Like in all of Wright's novels, family plays a huge part, and like all of her books, it's horror but without being outright horrifying--so if, like me, you can't take much, you don't need to worry about this book giving you nightmares. It's just the right levels of disturbing and dark ;)
Fans of haunting gothic victorian fiction will love this chilling read!
Like in all of Wright's novels, family plays a huge part, and like all of her books, it's horror but without being outright horrifying--so if, like me, you can't take much, you don't need to worry about this book giving you nightmares. It's just the right levels of disturbing and dark ;)
Fans of haunting gothic victorian fiction will love this chilling read!
allygrove's review
5.0
Hauntingly Beautiful Tale
When I picked up this book I had a slight thought as to where the story would take me. As I entered the pages and traveled with Miss Lucy I found myself carried in an entirely new direction. The writing is beautiful and kept me captive until the end. The characters felt both familar and new. A lovely gothic read.
When I picked up this book I had a slight thought as to where the story would take me. As I entered the pages and traveled with Miss Lucy I found myself carried in an entirely new direction. The writing is beautiful and kept me captive until the end. The characters felt both familar and new. A lovely gothic read.
michael_benavidez's review
5.0
Very rarely comes a book that makes me not want to finish it. Not because it's horrible or anything like that, but because I want to stay with the characters, the stories, the prose. The closer I got to the end, the harder it became to really let them go, even as I strove for answers and desired them to reach their climax, I didn't want to.
This is a book that takes a story we know, have devoured for years, from and with with an author that is celebrated today, and gives us a new way to look at it. This book takes a look at how maybe, possibly, perhaps, Stoker was inspired for his beautiful book Dracula, by the events that he was told and read through in this book. I know nothing about Stoker as a person, though I have devoured his book many times, but the way he is presented here is loving and empathetic. Becky Wright does a spectacular job of leaving crumbs along the way for us to remember that yes this is where that idea came from, or this idea.
But that's all it is, crumbs.
For anyone that has not read Dracula, the story will not be spoiled. There is a mystery, ghosts, a mansion, murders, there is so much in here and it is all so wonderfully unfolded in perhaps my favorite style of prose. The prose is what has captured me. If I could fall in love with a style, it would be in the way that Becky Wright writes. Her prose is perfect, dancing along the story with the necessary calm pace or the exhilarating adrenaline that sometimes takes the characters. It kept me engaged throughout, even found myself unknowingly reading aloud and acting out the voices, I had become so involved in the story. And yes, towards the end my eyes were wet, and I had been on such a ride.
Note that none of this is exaggeration, this book is quite legitimately my Favorite Book of the Year. It has given me a tale I didn't know I needed, and wrecked me with such emotions that I fell in love with these characters. It's a beautiful beautiful tragedy that must be read.
This is a book that takes a story we know, have devoured for years, from and with with an author that is celebrated today, and gives us a new way to look at it. This book takes a look at how maybe, possibly, perhaps, Stoker was inspired for his beautiful book Dracula, by the events that he was told and read through in this book. I know nothing about Stoker as a person, though I have devoured his book many times, but the way he is presented here is loving and empathetic. Becky Wright does a spectacular job of leaving crumbs along the way for us to remember that yes this is where that idea came from, or this idea.
But that's all it is, crumbs.
For anyone that has not read Dracula, the story will not be spoiled. There is a mystery, ghosts, a mansion, murders, there is so much in here and it is all so wonderfully unfolded in perhaps my favorite style of prose. The prose is what has captured me. If I could fall in love with a style, it would be in the way that Becky Wright writes. Her prose is perfect, dancing along the story with the necessary calm pace or the exhilarating adrenaline that sometimes takes the characters. It kept me engaged throughout, even found myself unknowingly reading aloud and acting out the voices, I had become so involved in the story. And yes, towards the end my eyes were wet, and I had been on such a ride.
Note that none of this is exaggeration, this book is quite legitimately my Favorite Book of the Year. It has given me a tale I didn't know I needed, and wrecked me with such emotions that I fell in love with these characters. It's a beautiful beautiful tragedy that must be read.
pbanditp's review
5.0
I pressed play and was instantly enthralled. To get the feeling of being back in Dracula’s era was incredible. Becky Wright really transports you.
This is the story of Lucy, and her meeting Bram Stoker before he wrote Dracula. Lucy tells her story through a written journal.
If you like Dracula at all you need to read this book. This has a feminine touch but yet there were several things that left me stunned, dumbfounded, I had always assumed that Becky was a nice person, but she obviously has a little Devil inside.
This is the story of Lucy, and her meeting Bram Stoker before he wrote Dracula. Lucy tells her story through a written journal.
If you like Dracula at all you need to read this book. This has a feminine touch but yet there were several things that left me stunned, dumbfounded, I had always assumed that Becky was a nice person, but she obviously has a little Devil inside.
ruth_miranda's review
4.0
What a delightful gothic, eerie read!
If you've ever found yourself pondering how Bram Stoker came about Dracula, what was his inspiration for certain of the characters, for certain plotlines, then I think you'll love this book. Taking a chance at telling what could have been Lucy's story, instead of focusing on Mina, it weaves a tale of woe and pain, of family ties and boundless ambition, of love and what a parent will do for their children. It's achingly beautiful, with a victorian feel that fits the genre to perfection and actually makes you believe it was written long ago, what with the delicate, rich and lush descriptions of depth of emotions most contemporary fiction seems to lack. I do urge you to read this, if gothic tales are your thing, if you're starving for a unique voice and a story that will stay with you and make you ask 'what if?'
If you've ever found yourself pondering how Bram Stoker came about Dracula, what was his inspiration for certain of the characters, for certain plotlines, then I think you'll love this book. Taking a chance at telling what could have been Lucy's story, instead of focusing on Mina, it weaves a tale of woe and pain, of family ties and boundless ambition, of love and what a parent will do for their children. It's achingly beautiful, with a victorian feel that fits the genre to perfection and actually makes you believe it was written long ago, what with the delicate, rich and lush descriptions of depth of emotions most contemporary fiction seems to lack. I do urge you to read this, if gothic tales are your thing, if you're starving for a unique voice and a story that will stay with you and make you ask 'what if?'
julie_embleton's review
5.0
Bram Stoker arrives in Whitby following a theatre tour of Scotland. Early one morning he meets Lucy Meredith on the clifftop and mesmerised by her presence, listens to her tale. When Lucy gifts Bram with her diary, the true depths of the horrors she has suffered are revealed.
As a fan of Becky Wright, I was excited to read her latest work and was not left disappointed. Mr Stoker & I is set in the late 1800’s and is styled as if written in that time. Laced with a dark, gothic atmosphere, Lucy’s story is a desperate and chilling one with an ending that had me weeping. This is not a fast paced read. Much like life was lived back then, Wright takes you through Lucy’s story with an unhurried pace. Once I understood I had to settle into this tempo, I enjoyed the book to its fullest.
As Lucy’s life and sanity unravels under the presence of Vladimir, there is no hint of the romance found in modern vampire tales. Instead, the brutal side of this theme is explored, leaving me haunted by the betrayal, desire and terror in the pages. As foreboding built, so did my apprehension for the fate of each character, and while the ending had me crying, I love how Wright closed Lucy’s tale.
This is unlike any other book I’ve read and it’s one I know I’ll return to in the future. Were Bram Stoker alive today, I think he would delight in this story. Having read Dracula and watched every form of its retelling, Mr Stoker & I has left me wanting to believe the classic tale did indeed come from a chance meeting with Lucy Meredith under the shadow of Whitby Abbey. This book has the makings of a classic and earns a solid five stars.
As a fan of Becky Wright, I was excited to read her latest work and was not left disappointed. Mr Stoker & I is set in the late 1800’s and is styled as if written in that time. Laced with a dark, gothic atmosphere, Lucy’s story is a desperate and chilling one with an ending that had me weeping. This is not a fast paced read. Much like life was lived back then, Wright takes you through Lucy’s story with an unhurried pace. Once I understood I had to settle into this tempo, I enjoyed the book to its fullest.
As Lucy’s life and sanity unravels under the presence of Vladimir, there is no hint of the romance found in modern vampire tales. Instead, the brutal side of this theme is explored, leaving me haunted by the betrayal, desire and terror in the pages. As foreboding built, so did my apprehension for the fate of each character, and while the ending had me crying, I love how Wright closed Lucy’s tale.
This is unlike any other book I’ve read and it’s one I know I’ll return to in the future. Were Bram Stoker alive today, I think he would delight in this story. Having read Dracula and watched every form of its retelling, Mr Stoker & I has left me wanting to believe the classic tale did indeed come from a chance meeting with Lucy Meredith under the shadow of Whitby Abbey. This book has the makings of a classic and earns a solid five stars.
danjones_t4e's review
4.0
A wonderful book from Becky Wright. Dark, haunting and superbly written. My second by the author and definitely not my last.
djgroupi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love origin stories and this one kept me turning the pages - gripped until the end. This dark, gothic novel takes us to the summer of 1890 in Whitby where Bram Stoker escapes to take a break from the theatre. One night on a bench in the East Cliff overlooking the sea he meets a mysterious woman named Lucy who he’s instantly drawn to. What begins as a chance meeting, leads to a fateful friendship where he learns the tragic account of the sad and horrific events that befell her life. This wondrous tale would go on to inspire Bram Stoker to write the legendary book he is now well-known for – Dracula.
karlakayjenniges's review against another edition
5.0
"It is a place of horrors, a place of torment, a place of death. Not death of the body, no, those who reside there---"
Set in Whitby, in the summer of 1890, this gothic tale of Lucy and Mr Stoker whisked me away to another time, another place, and wrapped me in it's timelessness. I sat on the bench by the East Cliff, followed Lucy's journey as if I was beside her , feeling her loss, her fear, her dread, and her search for forgiveness as she unveiled her story to Bram.
A deeply, beautiful haunting tale I won't soon forget!
Set in Whitby, in the summer of 1890, this gothic tale of Lucy and Mr Stoker whisked me away to another time, another place, and wrapped me in it's timelessness. I sat on the bench by the East Cliff, followed Lucy's journey as if I was beside her , feeling her loss, her fear, her dread, and her search for forgiveness as she unveiled her story to Bram.
A deeply, beautiful haunting tale I won't soon forget!
itsemtee's review against another edition
5.0
Dark, gothic, tragic, and hauntingly beautiful. Highly recommended.
Update: First re-read and loved it every bit as much the second time around. A great spooky season read
Update: First re-read and loved it every bit as much the second time around. A great spooky season read