The Jewel of Seven Stars
By Bram Stoker
Release Date: 1903
Ebook Available from WV Reads!
https://wvreads.overdrive.com/wvreads-wvlc/content/media/435555
3 Stars - An anxiety-riddled classic perfect for spooky season readers looking for something a little more literary. While Dracula of course is Stoker's best known work I've always been more intrigued by mummies than vampires. It starts off feeling like a Victorian romance but with a violent mystery and an odd tension also in the mix. Malcolm Ross is a likable narrator, who remains surprisingly neutral given his situation. It's easy to sympathize with this lawyer's struggle. He's seemingly randomly drawn in by a beautiful and kind woman that he quickly develops feelings for. His father is hurt and seemingly in grave danger but no one knows what from, and Ross just wants to help. Personally, I found the Egyptology fascinating. And to think this was written prior to the tomb discovery days we picture of the 1920s and 30s! I heard a lot about a very harrowing ending that was later changed to a happy one. I got the happy one in the ebook copy I read and it was satisfying. I'm a bit of a horror genre wimp, but I may have to find the gruesome one because I was certainly on the edge of my seat in the final chapters.
(NS)