Heart of the Impaler
By Alexander Delacroix
Alexander Delacroix’s darkly romantic debut Heart of the Impaler is perfect for fans of Kiersten White’s And I Darken.
Vlad Dracula has long lived in the shadows cast by his bloodthirsty father, the voivode, and his older brother, Mircea. Despite their cruelty, Vlad has yearned to prove himself worthy of the throne his whole life. In the cold halls of the voivode’s palace, Vlad can only rely on his cousin and closest friend, Andrei Musat.
When Vlad and Andrei meet Ilona Csáki, the daughter of an influential boyar, they each find themselves inextricably drawn to her. But then Ilona is betrothed to Mircea as part of a political alliance, and Vlad’s resentfulness of his brother begins to seethe into something far darker.
Ilona has no desire to marry the voivode’s eldest son, but love and marriage are the least of her worries. The royal family’s enemies have already tried to put an arrow through her back—and if anyone discovers her blossoming feelings for Andrei and Vlad, she may just wish they’d succeeded.
Beneath the shadow of impending war, the only battle that will be deadlier than the one for Ilona’s life will be the one for her heart.
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: December 7th 2021
Genres: Historical, Young Adult
I have asked Alexander Delacroix how she went about writing this book, and I will now pass this over to her, to explain what inspired her to write Heart of the Impaler, and what research she did to bring this story to life!
I’ve been interested in Vlad Dracula’s homeland, Romania, since I was a teenager. It was around that time that I learned Transylvania was an actual place and not some fictional land that had been created to provide horror stories with dark forests, forbidding castles, and bloodthirsty monsters. As I learned more and more about Romania, I also discovered that Dracula was real and that he ruled over a Romanian region called Wallachia in the mid part of the 15th century. Tales of his unbelievable cruelty led me to question what might inspire such brutality. This in turn prompted me to write Heart of the Impaler.
A lot of research went into this novel. In fact, what readers will find in the book is only the tip of the historical iceberg. To bring the story to life I needed background knowledge far beyond what appears in the novel. Understanding Wallachia’s boyars and their influence on Wallachian politics was crucial. They were far more influential than one might think and largely affected a voivode’s ability to effectively rule. When Vlad Dracula III finally managed to acquire the throne, much of his brutality was focused on crushing the boyar politics that had so often hampered his father. It was also important to understand the Ottoman Empire’s influence on Wallachia and its neighbors. To accurately portray events during Vlad’s time, I needed to know how previous conflicts and political maneuverings placed the country and the characters in the situations they were in.
There were also smaller details to consider. What was the usual layout of a 15th century boyar’s manor? How did people at that time dress? What did they eat? And so many more questions. Sometimes I found specific answers. More often I found partial ones and had to use a combination of imagination and common sense to fill in the details. Always I attempted to make the story feel as authentic and true as possible.
I’m grateful to the team at Swoon Reads and Fierce Reads for making this book possible. I hope readers will enjoy this glimpse into Dracula’s 15th century world.
About the author:
Alexander Delacroix earned Masters degrees from Brigham Young University and Western Governors University. As an undergraduate he majored in French, Russian, and German but ultimately became a Language Arts teacher. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and writing. Heart of the Impaler is his debut novel.
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Thanks for being on the tour! :)
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