This was a great ghost story that turned into political BS. I loved this story and expected more. The ending is disappointing. ( )

I've been a big fan of Stoker's much more well-known novel, Dracula, for some time but I've only become aware fairly recently that he also wrote several other books. The Lady of the Shroud was one of his later works, published in 1909 and set in 1907 - 1909. It starts with a very gothic opening scene: a ship sailing off the coast of a small Baltic nation sees a coffin floating in the sea. In the coffin stands a woman, dressed in a white shroud. As they watch, the coffin and its inhabitant vanish, whether into the mist or whether they were just a vision is unclear. However, a reader expecting a purely gothic novel is likely to be disappointed as the novel almost seems to change style and genre every few chapters as if Stoker couldn't make up his mind whether this was to be another gothic/horror novel like Dracula or something else. It's told in epistolary format (through letters and diary entries) like Dracula and Stoker's love of up to date technology is also evident but The Lady of the Shroud also has elements of a Rurtanian romance (like Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda) and a political commentary on the state of the Balkan nations pre WWI. I found it all interesting but the changes in pace and style meant I found the novel as a whole rather disjointed.

The edition I read was published by Valancourt Books and contains a very helpful introduction. Interestingly, it seems that it's been quite rare for this novel to be published in an unabridged format since its original publication (the Valancourt edition is, of course, unabridged) with most publishers editing out the political commentary and other sections to leave the novel a straight Ruritanian romance. I can see how that may have made it more appealing to readers. ( )

Less Gothic horror, more Gothic romance, with a dusting of Ruritanian adventure sprinkled on top. Personally, I would have preferred more of Stoker' take on Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda scenario but this was a good story nonetheless.

The romance is atmospheric, creepy and intimate, if at times somewhat overwrought. The adventure is set in the milieu of pre-First World War Balkan politics and I would have enjoyed more of this and a little less of the "Bloofer Lady" wandering about the midnight garden.

Told in the epistolary style that Stoker used for Dracula. ( )

Don't be fooled by the pulp horror cover, this tale from the pen of Bram Stoker isn't in the same vein as his more famous creation. There isn't much horror involved in this romance set against the background of adventure and mystery.

The lack of the creep factor shouldn't put you off. This is an enjoyable story that is full of character and even humour at times. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/694644.html

The book is set in the present day (ie 1907). It is about a Rupert St Leger, an Irishman who has become a citizen of the world, who unexpectedly finds himself a major landowner in a fictional Adriatic territory, the Land of the Blue Mountains, which should not be confused with any country named after mountains of some other colour with which I might be familiar. He gets entangled with a mysterious and chilly lady who appears wearing only a shroud (the exciting cover - wonder who the artist was? - shows her standing up in a water-borne coffin, in what is in fact the book's very first scene). The plot is complex and exciting, but is resolved with his rescuing her father from captivity using an aeroplane (which is pretty bloody advanced for 1907) and it turns out that the only element of the supernatural not otherwise explained away is Celtic rather than Balkan, in that Rupert's aged Scottish aunt has the Second Sight.

At least, that's where I thought the book ended. However, as I was checking out the on-line text on Project Gutenberg, I discovered that there was a whole chunk of the book missing - the Arrow edition of 1962, whose 1974 version was the one I had bought, had hacked off the last quarter of the text, without explanation! Extraordinary. I don't mind buying an abridged version if it's marked as such, but it was a shock to discover I had been cheated of such a substantial amount of the content. (Though since I only paid £1.60 I can't complain too much.)

In the censored section from the 1962/1974 edition, the story continues directly into the political rather than the supernatural (perhaps the reader of the 1960s was deemed by the publishers to be more interested in the horror elements than the politics). Rupert uses his vast fortune, and the mineral wealth of the Land of the Blue Mountains, to unite the entire Balkan peninsula under his moderate and constitutional rule, defended by a fleet of - get this - radium-powered aeroplanes.

Yes, the author of Dracula wrote a book with nuclear fuelled aircraft. Set in the Balkans. In 1907.

I must say I had not expected this book to be quite so intriguing. I certainly got more than my money's worth anyway. ( )