The Shadow Land

The Shadow Land is the newest novel written by Elizabeth Kostova.  She is also the author of The Historian, which I loved and The Swan Thieves which I will have to make a point to go back and read.

Kostova talks about having married a Bulgarian and traveling between the United States and Bulgaria.  She became interested in the history of the country.  As a reader I am glad so glad she did. This novel is fascinating and as I read I learned about a history I had never known before.  Though the work camps in Bulgaria were not the same as the concentration and extermination camps of Germany and Poland during WWII, the descriptions of what went on at these rehabilitation prison camps is horrific.

Capturing the readers imagination and presenting the terrible history of the country mixed into a romantic story of intrigue, Kostova, has the reader on the edge of your chair trying to stay at least in step with the characters of this novel.

Alexandra Boyd, a young American, running from her own memories and personal pain, comes to Bulgaria to teach.  As she helps an elderly couple and their son trying to get into a taxi cab, she accidentally ends up with one of their bags in her possession.  She and her cab driver, Bobby, try to return the bag returning to the hotel where they all intersected.  Then they go to the local police station to try and get help in locating the couple and their son.  This is the beginning of a mystery of who these three travelers are, the contents of their bag which turns out to be the human ashes of Stoyan Lazarov, a violinist.  Alexandra and Bobby travel around Bulgaria meeting people whose lives have been touched by this talented musician.  Alexandra gets a view of the country she would never have had as a tourist or teacher.  Bobby gives her an education in the horrors of a century in the history of the country that is fascinating for the reader.

The shadows of what was really happening hidden from most of the citizens of the country.  The shadows of the men who were taken off to the prison camps.  The idea of people who have died creating shades and shadows of the people they were.  Standing in the shadow of a person, really seeing them or not.  The men coming home from the camps, being like a skeleton, a shadow of their former selves.  This is a book of suspense, strength and love.  Kostova writes beautifully about how love can be found in the aftermath of loss.