Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of The Waters of Hercules: The Legend of Gaura Dracului by Emily and Dorothea Girard. The book is published by Addison & Highsmith Publishers, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding works of fiction.
The Waters of Hercules is a novel with close ties to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Gretchen, an intelligent young German woman, who distinguished herself in school by winning the prix de logique, is determined to marry a man of wealth. When the decent, respectable family lawyer Vincenz Komers, a man of modest means, seeks her hand in marriage, she rejects him, not once, but twice. When Gretchen’s father is seriously injured in an accident, the family sets off to Transylvania, to the Baths of Hercules (Băile Herculane in modern Romania, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), in hopes that the waters of Hercules, known for their curative powers, will rehabilitate her ailing father.
Her father, Adalbert, tells his daughter of a mysterious place in the surrounding forest, known as Gaura Dracului (the Devil’s Pit) that he had discovered during a visit to the valley years earlier, but the location of which is now a mystery. Hercules, considered the god of the Valley, is said to have sworn that the pit would receive a sacrifice of human blood once every century. The legends of a mysterious treasure associated with Gaura Dracului inspires Gretchen to consider another way to make her fortune, so that she can marry any man of her choosing. Her efforts are redoubled when the long-expected inheritance of a family estate proves illusory. What ensues is an exciting Gothic mystery.
Written by sisters Emily and Dorothea Girard, The Water of Hercules is a Victorian novel, filled with Gothic suspense. This beautiful edition, with original illustrations by acclaimed artist Phoebe Cho, should be of great interest to all fans of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as well as anyone interested in classic works of nineteenth century literature. With an introduction by noted historian A.K. Brackob, a specialist in the history of Eastern Europe, The Waters of Hercules is sure to entertain and delight.
The Waters of Hercules: The Legend of Gaura Dracului, 510 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-132-9, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. Titles published under the various imprints of Histria Books are distributed worldwide by the Casemate Group. For information on publishing with Histria Books, please visit HistriaBooks.com or contact us at info@histriabooks.com
