Shadow Land the Exp - Softcover

Kostova, Elizabeth

3.73

14,991 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1101966025 ISBN 13: 9781101966020

Publisher: Penguin Random House USA, 2017

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Soon after arriving in Bulgaria a young American helps an elderly couple into a taxi - and realises too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers an urn filled with human ashes. As Alexandra sets out to locate the family and return this precious item, she gradually uncovers the secrets of a talented musician shattered by oppression - and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger.

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Review:

"The Shadow Land is thrilling, and not just as a gripping tale. It's also thrilling to watch such a talented writer cast her spell. The central character actually begins this deft novel in an urn, only to emerge as one of the most memorable characters I've encountered in a long time." - Richard Russo

"Fans will keep coming back for her authentic detail, her scope, and her sense of suspense." - Guardian

"Her encounters peel back Bulgaria's troubled recent history and comprise the biography of a nation as much of as a family... beautifully written, gently gripping novel. " - Daily Mail

"The aftermath of loss, the haunting beauty of Bulgaria and an unsettling mystery surrounding an urn of human ashes all come together in Elizabeth Kostova's elegantly written novel...Written with great zest and beautifully descriptive detail, making the soul of this novel, The Shadow Land is a fascinating, moreish read, demonstrating the power of a great story." - Readers Digest

"A capacious, Victorian-esque novel with more than a whisper of romance, it deftly conveys the beauty and mystery of this ancient land, all the while ensnaring you in a web of intrigue which encompasses the darkest horrors of Bulgaria's hidden history." - West Australian

"Elizabeth Kostova's novel brings the modern history of Bulgaria into focus. The novel is the product of experience as well as imagination...It threads tantalising strands of romance, as well as more opaque examples of heroism." --Otago Daily Times

Praise for The Historian

"Quite extraordinary... Kostova is a natural storyteller... She has refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Hypnotic... a thrill ride through history." -- The Denver Post

"Part thriller, part history, part romance... Kostova has a keen sense of storytelling and she has a marvelous story to tell." -- Baltimore Sun

"Kostova's vampire is no campy Lugosi knockoff... Blending history and myth, Kostova has fashioned a version so fresh that when a stake is finally driven through a heart, it inspires the tragic shock of something happening for the very first time." -- Newsweek

Praise for The Swan Thieves

"Exquisite." -- The Boston Globe

"Engrossing." -- O: The Oprah Magazine

"Stunning... A beautifully written tale of art, love and an obsession triggered by both." --Associated Press

About the Author:

Elizabeth Kostova is the number one New York Times bestselling author of The Historian (Little, Brown & Co, 2005) - selling over half a million copies in the the UK - for which she won the 2006 Book Sense Award for Best Adult Fiction. She also won the 2005 Quill Award for Debut Author of the Year. Her follow-up, The Swan Thieves (Sphere, 2010), sold over 50,000 copies in the UK. She graduated from Yale and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won the Hopwood Award for Novel-in-Progress.

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