The novel is presented as an unnamed 1st-person account written in the year 2008. Ms. Kostova's explanation of the nameless narrator is a "literary experiment." The narrator is a historian whose father, Paul, unwittingly ended up searching for the vampiric Vlad Tepes. Although the narrator's adventures begin in 1972, there are three distinct storylines narrated in parallel, alternating chapters:
- The narrator's actions in 1972/1973 when at the age of sixteen, she began to travel with her father through parts of Europe and, later, from Amsterdam to Southern France/Oxford, Stephen Barley. with an undergraduate from
- Paul's travels during the 1950s, when as a graduate student, he travelled (initially) to Istanbul then to Budapest and then parts of Eastern Europe in search of his mentor, Professor Bartholomew Rossi, who may or may not have been kidnapped.
- Professor Rossi's own travels in Eastern Europe during 1930.
Much of the story is told through letters, excerpts from books and academic literature, and above all, the narrator's reconstructions of stories told to her by her father. Details of the plot and of Dracula's nature, motives, and history are slowly revealed.
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"BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine—like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.
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