When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer. For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume. Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well.
I read this book when it first came out last year in 2011, and Loved it! With the much anticipated sequel now out I decided to reacquaint myself with Diana & Mathew’s story before I dive into Shadow of Night. This is a very complex love story with the past mixing with present and the future. How Diana struggles with her magic that she has thought she has turned away from for years unexpectedly bursting back into existence with the enchanted Ashmole 782 manuscript. Everyone wants Ashmole 782 the vampires, the witches and the daemons all think it contains the story of their origins, and they are willing to anything to get it into their possession and keep control away from the other creatures. The problem is it’s been missing for centuries. Everyone wants to know how and why Diana was able to call upon the missing manuscript. The witches