A couple of months ago, I conducted a search on our library catalog for the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. One of the search results included a book called Lost in Darkness. This title looked appealing to me, and I decided to see what other books its author, Michelle Griep, has written. I discovered that she is an inspirational author and that Lost in Darkness is part of a two-book series called Of Monsters and Men. I located the other book in the series, Man of Shadow and Mist, as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this faith-based series that combines a gothic atmosphere, historical fiction, and historical fact. In Lost in Darkness, Mary Shelley is a neighbor of the main characters. Similarly, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, appears in Man of Shadow and Mist as a patron of a library in which one of the novel's central characters serves as librarian.
Inspirational fiction fans who love gothic stories and enjoy history will be thoroughly satisfied with this series. And what's more, readers do not have to read this series in order.
Take this quiz to test your historical knowledge of the historical time period that these books cover. The answers are definitely in the books and will also be listed at the end of this article.
1. Mary Shelley really resided in a suburb in Bristol which was where her fictitious neighbors lived. Why was she living in this place?
A. This residence is where Mary Shelley’s family spent the holidays.
B. Mary’s Shelley’s illicit partner placed her in this home and abandoned her.
C. Mary Shelley held literary conferences in this house with other contemporary authors.
2. What was a resurrectionist?
A. A person who held seances.
B. A person who believed in re-incarnation
C. A person who illegally snatched bodies from the graves.
3. What anesthetic was actually researched in Bristol England during the early 1800s?
A. Laughing Gas
B. Novocaine
C. Opioids
4. Library Membership was free in the 1890s in England.
A. True
B. False
5. Bram Stoker really was a customer in the library in Whitby England. What non-circulating book did he use for his research in this library?
A. Accounts and Principalities of Wallachia and Moldova.
B. The Book of Were-Wolves
C. Transylvania
6. Which rare blood disorder originated the vampire myths?
A. Mastocytosis
B. Porphyria
C. Eosinophilia
Lost in Darkness takes place in Bristol, England, in the year 1815. This book tells the story of Amelia Belflour, who desired to be a travel writer; Amelia’s brother Colin, who had a severe facial deformity; former navy surgeon Graham Lambert; and the prominent surgeon Uriah Peckwood. Amelia’s editor has given her the exciting travel assignment to visit Cairo. Amelia later receives a letter from her now-deceased father that she is now the guardian of her disfigured brother, whom she has not seen for many years. Amelia’s father has scheduled Colin a revolutionary surgery, and she will be free of this guardianship when the surgery is completed. Will these circumstances interfere with Amelia’s dream trip, or will she still be able to travel to Cairo? Graham, who is eager to begin a medical practice, successfully persuades Peckwood to accept him as a partner. Peckwood happens to be the surgeon who will conduct the operation on Colin, and Graham is eventually assigned to help with the treatments. Amelia wants her brother to have a normal life, but Graham gradually grows uncomfortable with Peckwood’s unorthodox procedures. He later sees that he has good reason to dread because Colin loses his mind. He transforms from a gentle human being to a threat to those around him. He terrorizes the neighbor, Mary Godwin, but inspires her to write a great work of literature called Frankenstein. Will Graham and Amelia be able to rescue Colin before it is too late? Read this exciting book to learn the outcome.
Man of Shadows and Mist takes place in the provincial English town of Whitby in 1890. This book is the story of the unconventional librarian Rosa Edwards and the mysterious and reclusive Sir James Morgan. Rosa works in the library that her father oversees. Sir James Morgan mysteriously appears with his terminally ill mother from the country of Transylvania and resides in a manor in Whitby. The superstitious residents of the town mercilessly reject Sir James and blame him for the serial killings of their sheep. Rosa and Sir James first cross paths when Rosa has an accident with her makeshift bookmobile which was a bicycle. Sir James gallantly helps Rosa nurse her minor wounds and learns that she is the local librarian. This encounter grows into a friendship when Rosa provides her bicycle bookmobile service for Sir James. Sir James is desperately trying to find a remedy for his mother’s strange malady and needs information about her disease. Rosa’s library customer by the name of Bram Stoker also requested her to deliver a manuscript to Sir James. What will happen when Rosa attempts to deliver this manuscript? This particular errand will be a turning point in the relationship of Rosa and Sir James. Read this gothic atmospheric and inspirational novel to learn how the relationship of Sir James and Rosa unfolds.
Answers
1. B
2. C
3. A
4. B. You had to pay a modest subscription fee to join a local library in England.
5. A
6. B
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