Some of the characters in the plot seem to be set in parallel action, like Bartholomew Rossi, the professor who mentored Paul in his younger days. Both are professors with the utmost care for their daughters. The narrator understands the care between a father and daughter, so she feels she understands the scope of the journey; she is trying to find her father's friend's daughter—nothing more. But then she learns the piece that makes the meaning of the plot emerge: the missing woman is her mother.
Her mother's name is Helen, a significant name from literary history often associated with women who are highly desirable. In this case, Helen's survival depends on Paul and the narrator, and the story is intertwined with another parallel narrative—that of Count Dracula. In their own daily lives, the professors experience this dilemma through their respective copies of the mysterious book (Paul, the narrator's father, and also Bartholomew, but then also another man called Turgut Bora).
When the reader sees the microcosm of the novel, they see the archetypal journey of a nameless narrator on a quest for her identity. She must save her mother, a common motif in this sort of plot structure, and on the way, she must allow others to help her and her father in their quest, using discernment to know who is trustworthy and who is not. Then again, when the reader backs away from the singular character and her story, they find a community all seeking to solve riddles posed by mysterious, ancient books (like religious books, perhaps), by killing the undead villain who haunts them all. The novel is also a portrait of community.
