Said the Spider to the Fly, “Watch Out for Renfield. He May Want Seconds”
02/01/2007
Hambly, Barbara. Renfield, Slave of Dracula. New York. Berkley Books. The Berkley Publishing Group. 2006. 306 p.
In Renfield, Slave of Dracula, Barbara Hambly manages to interweave the original Bram Stoker novel with a new take on the story. To begin with, the main narrator and consciousness of this tale is the madman Renfield, who is imprisoned as a guest in the asylum run by Dr. Seward throughout a good portion of the book, much as he was in the original novel. This makes for some interesting problems in terms of narrative point of view, but Hambly ably overcomes any physical constrictions placed on her storyteller through the use of several clever plot devices.
The cast of characters and locations are much the same as in the Stoker original, and Hambly utilizes a writing style which is very consistent with Stoker’s original approach: Much of the narrative unfolds through the journals and notes of the main character, in this case Renfield. The plot has some considerable alterations, but she does this in such a deft manner that it does not seem to deviate from the framework of Stoker’s novel; rather, Renfield’s story is weaved seamlessly around the original tale.
Variations on the theme include Renfield’s alliance with Dracula’s three brides against the master, and a twist on the original depiction of Renfield’s demise, which leads into another section of the story that had been previously unexplored. Since most people are highly familiar with the original Dracula tale, either through having read the 1897 classic or through having watched various cinematic interpretations of the story, I will not rehash the plot here.
While Hambly's novel may lack the originality that made the Stoker novel a classic, her retelling is without a doubt a crafty piece. It has its own spark of genius in that the author approaches a well-known tale from a fresh and interesting vantage point. I have no reservations calling Renfield, Slave of Dracula an excellent work.