The Mystery of the Sea

The Mystery of the Sea By Bram StokerThe Mystery of the Sea, a mystery novel by Bram Stoker, was originally published in 1902. Stoker is best known for his 1897 novel Dracula, but The Mystery of the Sea contains many of the same compelling elements. It tells the story of an Englishman living in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who meets and falls in love with an American heiress. She is involved with the intrigues of the Spanish-American War, and a complex plot involving second sight, kidnapping, and secret codes unfolds over the course of the novel. The Mystery of the Sea contains supernatural elements, but is in many respects a political thriller. Stoker draws from personal experience and incorporates historical strands from the Spanish-American War as well as the sixteenth-century conflict between Spain and Elizabethan England, using these events to explore important themes of his time such as national identity and changing concepts of womanhood. Although The Mystery of the Sea received many favorable reviews when it was published (and many of the criticisms it received could be equally well applied to Dracula), it has been significantly overshadowed in scholarship and criticism by Dracula. Bram Stoker was born on November 8, 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. He was brought up in a Protestant middle-class household, and was a sickly child. However, Stoker eventually grew out of his illnesses and attended Trinity College, where he studied science and mathematics. Stoker became a civil service clerk in Dublin for a short time, but was always interested in literature. He wrote short fiction and edited an Irish newspaper, publishing his first story, "The Crystal Cup", in 1872. He also submitted work to a magazine called the Shamrock, based in Dublin. In 1876, while volunteering as a drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, met actor Henry Irving. In 1878, Stoker moved to London to serve as manager for Irving's Lyceum Theatre. Stoker was an adept administrator and introduced a number of new practices into the theatre, including numbering seats and advertising a season or selling tickets for shows in advance. Stoker was quite busy while he worked for Irving, and much of his writing had to be done on holidays and in his spare time. However, Stoker's business often proved to be helpful to his writings. Stoker's position at the Lyceum had a direct influence on his novels, particularly in terms of travel and setting. Company tours between 1883 and 1904 took him to America regularly.