I have just downloaded Bram Stoker's Dracula on to my iPod. I have always loved this horror story - both in literature and film. I read it years ago, and I think it will translate nicely to audio. Dracula has been the basis for countless films and plays. Three of the most famous are Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). In these movies, the Count was played by Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman, respectively. I am a big Gary Oldman fan, but it is hard to beat Bela Lugosi.

I also just finished listening to The Shifting Fog . In this book, the story of the ill-fated Hartford family is told by Grace Bradley, a former housemaid who is just 14 when she joins the staff at Riverton Manor in 1914. From the very beginning, wide-eyed Grace is fascinated by David, Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, the glamorous grandchildren of Riverton’s owner, Lord Ashbury. Following Hannah’s marriage to a wealthy American in 1919, Grace becomes her private maid. Over the next six years the lives of these women become closely intertwined, to the point where Grace gives up a chance for personal happiness in order to stay close to her troubled young mistress.

Now aged 98, Grace is reminded of the tragic events that occurred in the grounds of Riverton Manor in 1924 when she’s contacted by an American director. Ursula Ryan is making a movie about the death of a young poet called Robbie Hunter, who committed suicide during a garden party at Riverton. According to rumours at the time, the dead man was the lover of both sisters, who were the only witnesses to his death. After the tragedy, Hannah and Emmeline never spoke to each other again, and Grace is the only person still alive who knows the truth about what happened beside the lake on that fateful evening.

I enjoyed this book immensely, and do recommend it.