Moon Rising

by Ann Victoria Roberts

A dark love story featuring a young Bram Stoker takes readers back to 1880s England where the young, recently-married writer is beginning work on a new novel called "Dracula."

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance

360 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2000

About the author

Ann Victoria Roberts is the author of six historical novels, set mainly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the wife of a sea-captain, her writing life has often been interrupted by voyages with her husband and children; she even received news of her first novel’s acceptance while on the bridge of an oil tanker entering port!
Her new book, ‘Housewife Writes Bestseller’, is a memoir, a light-hearted look back at the crazy days of the 1980s.
A keen reader and researcher, Ann enjoys painting pictures with words and regards historical fiction as an enjoyable way to discover the past. Born in York, Ann now lives in Southampton UK with her Master Mariner husband.

Reviews

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story set in the charming seaside town of Whitby featuring Bram Stoker as a main character really appealed to me. Finally, I got hold of a copy and it surprised me. For the first half it felt like déjà vu and really distracted me as I have never read it before but the plot seemed so familiar. Despite enjoying the descriptions of Whitby and its landmarks such as the Abbey, at times I was left frustrated by the behaviour of the leading lady Damaris Sterne. I was also disappointed by some of the character traits that the author gave to Bram Stoker.

[Grace Harwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I happened across this book as I was researching Whitby's literary heritage and being as this book uses this as a premise for the story, this seemed like the ideal novel to read.

What really shines through in this book is Whitby - the town really is the star in this novel - with lots of detail about the town and its rich heritage (not just literary, but shipping as well). The author clearly knows the town well and it's a real treat to read about such detailed invocations of such a wonderful, magical place. The folklore of the town really shines through

The author has used Stoker's visit to the town as a method to focus upon this and what aspects of the town might have inspired Stoker's most famous novel, Dracula (which is partly set in the town). This works up to a point, but does smack of research a bit (that might just be me, because I've done so much research in this area, all of the elements in the story are things I've read before - many times). For this reason, the Stoker aspect of the story didn't read as that original to me. The other problem I had with the book is the characterisation in it. Stoker was a bit two-dimensional (I imagine it's quite hard to create a new interpretation of such a well-known historical character) but the main character herself wasn't much better. The entire story is written from a very introspective point of view with the main character, Damaris Sterne, thinking most of the action through her reflections. I found it difficult to empathise with the character, so nearly 400 pages of her thoughts started to get on my nerves a bit.

This book wasn't for me - it was okay - but only that.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was part of our town library February event in honor of Valentine's Day- "Blind Date with a Book". They covered many books with brown paper and only noted a few words on the front to give you an idea of what it was. Mine said "on the loose" and when I initially opened it, I was disappointed as it looked to me like anohter tired Harlequin Romance from the 1800's. I was pleasantly surprised as the writing was very good, and the images of old England were very descriptive. I might add that I am not usually a fan of old English novels.... Anyway, there was a Bram Stoker/Dracula link that intrigued me, but I was mildly disappointed as I assumed that the reference "on the loose" was about Dracula, and I am still not sure what it was about, but Dracula played little to no part in the book.

I now have to write a review and submit it for a chance to win movie tickets and an Italian restaurant gift card. I think it is a blind draw, but you never know, I may win!

Anyway, it was fun to read and get out of my comfort zone, which was the whole point of the contest, I guess. I really like the beginning and then the end, but the middle was a bit over the top. I will say that I did not know things could be as "steamy" back then as they are now, as everything was discussed and nothing was taboo, which was hard for me to fathom. Well, that is fiction! I still recommend it, and I may just read another one of this author's books!

[Giselle Roeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a tale! From normal to homosexual to bisexual to murder and all things inbetween. I was overwhelmed by it. As always, Ann V. Roberts sets a stage, with just a few words paints a picture and, before you know it, you are drawn in. There are a lot of characters but you'll know them all. Sometimes, some of them make you shake your head, then you like to shake them to reason, then you get mad but there is no way to help anyone, they all have to "lie in the bed they made for themselves." An interesting book, unusual for me because I was never exposed to anything like it - but I am not surprised that A.V. Roberts was invited to write a film script about it.
I really don't want to give more of the story away, it's almost impossible! There are stories within stories, many could stand on their own but they are all interconnected. Read it!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpt from the jacket cover:
One long, hot summer in 1886, Bram Stoker escaped from the pressures of the theater life in London to the seaside town of Whitby. These months are unaccounted for and Roberts has woven a mysterious and enthralling novel.
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While this novel begins slowly, it certainly picks up speed as it progresses. It really begins to become interesting as Stoker starts hearing of the local legends and folklore and begins taking copious notes which will eventually resolve themselves into his most famous work, Dracula. Perhaps my biggest complaint is the illicit romance tied to the tale, otherwise, for me, it was a pretty solid novel and I enjoyed it very much.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, technically, this is trashy romance, except its about Bram Stoker. Think Shakespeare In Love, except with serious gothic overtones. And some blood. It's a dark romance which tries to paint a picture of what kind of man would write a story like Dracula, without going too overboard in making him dark and scary.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well written, wish it was non fiction!
loved the time period and characters
wanted to know how it would all end.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So much so that I had to reign in and remember that it was actually a novel and not a biography of Bram Stoker.

[Nina Bonnisea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be engaging with a strong protagonist. The story was unusual and was wonderfully atmospheric and a bit scary which is great when dealing with the author of Dracula!

[Pat Breunig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up from a Little Library. I thought it was very well written and I enjoyed the whole story. The Bram Stoker aspect intrigued me but there was little about that in the long run. I would recommend this book.

[Dee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book but the cover made it look very intriguing

[Roanna25 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little slow in places. Some of the side topics seemed unnecessary didn't really further the plot.

[Mercedes Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of Bram Stoker but I never thought of him as a romantic lead. So it was with great curiosity I picked up this novel with a mysterious front cover. Normally I think of romances as pretty formulaic, but this one broke the mold. First of all, the book began way after the affair had been clearly finished for decades, and established the protagonist before the flashback began. So as a reader I didn't waste a lot of energy worrying about a happy ending. Secondly, it was intriguing to think of a great writer finding his inspiration for a ground-breaking classic.

There wasn't a ton of action in this book; much of it was a study of poverty and family relations gone awry. Our heroine rises above her inauspicious beginnings and makes the best use of her brains and charms; she knows when to grab at opportunities, not paying a lot of attention to social mores. I'm not all that familiar with this era, but it struck me that she was unusually free with her virtues. She had no trouble giving in to her carnal desires — even to the point of adultery — and it felt like she was acting more like a 20th century woman than a 19th century Victorian. In a small town I don't see how she could have gotten away from the gossip.

Nonetheless, I found the book very entertaining. It flowed well and the characters were nicely developed. Bram Stoker came off well enough: flawed, but forgivable. There was more than one love story to follow, and the subplots were cleverly woven together, leaving me quite satisfied at the end. The book was written in first person and it was easy to put myself into the skin of the character. Those were not bad memories to walk away with!

[Hel Gibbons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a bit silly, really :) Although it did keep me gripped on a long train journey...