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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I'm in 2 minds about this book. A caveat - I started The Shadowland 3 months ago, read half of it, then got distracted by another book and didn't pick it up again until last week. Was this because the story didn't pull me in? Possibly. It definitely made the book feel disjointed.
In many ways, The Shadowland frustrated me, tempting me with intriguing rays of history, but then relied on a story set in modern times that seems so unbelievable.
It starts in this way: a young woman haunted by death of a family member (some years before...) comes to Bulgaria on a whim, picks up the wrong bag at a taxi stand, finds out too late it contains an urn and ashes, finds a taxi of her own and tries to find the owners of the urn. Ok, believable enough? Then she spends about 300 pages, 5 days and hundreds of kilometres trying to find the dead guy's family (who seem to have completely vanished) with her now-friended and almost-too-helpful taxi driver ("Bobby"). The police are no help, then someone starts chasing them, they can't find the dead guy's family for days, yet they keep going, from one town to another, across Bulgaria several times. This is when I feel like it gets a bit too unbelievable. The characters felt too earnest, too persistent, too paranoid. They often did not feel real. Would you (or anyone?) react the way Alexandra or Bobby act in the novel? I doubt it. And then, annoyingly, the author seemed determined to pit Alexandria with someone -anyone - romantically. (Why?? Can't she just be Alexandra??)
The heart and soul of the story actually takes place in the 1940s and 50s when the dead guy was a young musician during the communist regime. He is imprisoned without trial and put in a forced labour camp. The book is interesting in that it brings to life not only a country and a people often ignored by the wider world (poor Bulgaria...) as well as shinning a spotlight on the horrors of communist Eastern Bloc - sudden arrests, forced labour camp, withheld trials, murders of political dissents, never knowing who to trust or if the neighbours are watching, mass murder, corruption, starvation and abuse of prisoners just because they can. As well as how that past has unfolded in modern times, and how the corruption still stands in the shadows of modern Bulgaria.
So to sum it up - it was interesting. I learned a lot. I feel like I've walked away with a deeper understanding of Bulgaria and communism. While America was in its 1950s Golden Age of consumerism, Bulgarians were living in poverty (if they were lucky) or in labour camps if unlucky. I've spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe - a year living in Poland, and then years of using holidays to visit places like Estonia and Czechia, Hungary and Latvia and Croatia. A work trip to develop tourism in Macedonia, and a honeymoon to Romania. A weekend in Kiev, another in Vilno - not to mention, 10 days in Russia.... Further trips are planned back to Poland and Czechia and beyond. The Shadowland has given an even deeper appreciation for this part of the world, intriguing me to know more, to visit more, to understand more. But I do feel like the book is missing something - the modern story is too forced, the characters (esp. Alexandria) frustrating in their lack of dimension. I think Kostova should have set more of her book in the past, under the regime, and found a way to structure the story without Alexandra - instead, putting Neven or even Bobby at the centre.
In many ways, The Shadowland frustrated me, tempting me with intriguing rays of history, but then relied on a story set in modern times that seems so unbelievable.
It starts in this way: a young woman haunted by death of a family member (some years before...) comes to Bulgaria on a whim, picks up the wrong bag at a taxi stand, finds out too late it contains an urn and ashes, finds a taxi of her own and tries to find the owners of the urn. Ok, believable enough? Then she spends about 300 pages, 5 days and hundreds of kilometres trying to find the dead guy's family (who seem to have completely vanished) with her now-friended and almost-too-helpful taxi driver ("Bobby"). The police are no help, then someone starts chasing them, they can't find the dead guy's family for days, yet they keep going, from one town to another, across Bulgaria several times. This is when I feel like it gets a bit too unbelievable. The characters felt too earnest, too persistent, too paranoid. They often did not feel real. Would you (or anyone?) react the way Alexandra or Bobby act in the novel? I doubt it. And then, annoyingly, the author seemed determined to pit Alexandria with someone -anyone - romantically. (Why?? Can't she just be Alexandra??)
The heart and soul of the story actually takes place in the 1940s and 50s when the dead guy was a young musician during the communist regime. He is imprisoned without trial and put in a forced labour camp. The book is interesting in that it brings to life not only a country and a people often ignored by the wider world (poor Bulgaria...) as well as shinning a spotlight on the horrors of communist Eastern Bloc - sudden arrests, forced labour camp, withheld trials, murders of political dissents, never knowing who to trust or if the neighbours are watching, mass murder, corruption, starvation and abuse of prisoners just because they can. As well as how that past has unfolded in modern times, and how the corruption still stands in the shadows of modern Bulgaria.
So to sum it up - it was interesting. I learned a lot. I feel like I've walked away with a deeper understanding of Bulgaria and communism. While America was in its 1950s Golden Age of consumerism, Bulgarians were living in poverty (if they were lucky) or in labour camps if unlucky. I've spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe - a year living in Poland, and then years of using holidays to visit places like Estonia and Czechia, Hungary and Latvia and Croatia. A work trip to develop tourism in Macedonia, and a honeymoon to Romania. A weekend in Kiev, another in Vilno - not to mention, 10 days in Russia.... Further trips are planned back to Poland and Czechia and beyond. The Shadowland has given an even deeper appreciation for this part of the world, intriguing me to know more, to visit more, to understand more. But I do feel like the book is missing something - the modern story is too forced, the characters (esp. Alexandria) frustrating in their lack of dimension. I think Kostova should have set more of her book in the past, under the regime, and found a way to structure the story without Alexandra - instead, putting Neven or even Bobby at the centre.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I found this work to be full of endearing characters, love, the traumas of forced labor camps, and Bulgaria during the time of the Iron Curtain. The work was full of mystery and intrigue and I found it to be compelling, but difficult to read at times due to the torture, violence, and harm within the work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, War
Started off a little slow, but got better by the middle. I loved the ending.
This review originally ran on Brightly
I remember holing up with [a:Elizabeth Kostova|5918|Elizabeth Kostova|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360044214p2/5918.jpg]’s debut, [b:The Historian|10785366|The Historian|Elizabeth Kostova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328320841s/10785366.jpg|3061272], and devouring the book over a single weekend. Kostova’s follow-up, [b:The Swan Thieves|5983057|The Swan Thieves|Elizabeth Kostova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1256542427s/5983057.jpg|6156487], was just as captivating. Her newest book, The Shadow Land, proves that the common threads in Kostova’s novels are beautiful writing, a weaving of the past with the present, and mystery that propels the plot forward.
Alexandra Boyd has just arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, when she finds herself on the steps of the wrong hotel. As she contemplates what to do, she helps an elderly woman into a car, holding onto her bags in the process. After the car drives away, she realizes that she has accidentally kept one of the lady’s bags, which contains an urn. The mystery of finding the woman (and her companions) sends Alexandra on a journey across Bulgaria and throughout history.
There are two intertwined mysteries in The Shadow Land. The first is the question of what happened to the woman and the two men traveling with her. This mystery helps unravel the second mystery: Who is the person in the urn, and what was their story? Alexandra’s accomplice is a cab driver, Bobby, who drives her around Bulgaria and helps her on her fact-finding mission. In the process, readers also learn the reason why Alexandra has chosen to go to Bulgaria and uncover details about her own sad past.
Kostova was inspired to write the novel after more than 20 visits to Bulgaria. Bulgaria is not a common setting for novels, and its history is not very well known by many readers, yet it is part of the larger history of World War II, Communism, and labor camps. The Shadow Land is a beautiful book with descriptions of both the beauty and horror of a lesser-known country and its past.
I remember holing up with [a:Elizabeth Kostova|5918|Elizabeth Kostova|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360044214p2/5918.jpg]’s debut, [b:The Historian|10785366|The Historian|Elizabeth Kostova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328320841s/10785366.jpg|3061272], and devouring the book over a single weekend. Kostova’s follow-up, [b:The Swan Thieves|5983057|The Swan Thieves|Elizabeth Kostova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1256542427s/5983057.jpg|6156487], was just as captivating. Her newest book, The Shadow Land, proves that the common threads in Kostova’s novels are beautiful writing, a weaving of the past with the present, and mystery that propels the plot forward.
Alexandra Boyd has just arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, when she finds herself on the steps of the wrong hotel. As she contemplates what to do, she helps an elderly woman into a car, holding onto her bags in the process. After the car drives away, she realizes that she has accidentally kept one of the lady’s bags, which contains an urn. The mystery of finding the woman (and her companions) sends Alexandra on a journey across Bulgaria and throughout history.
There are two intertwined mysteries in The Shadow Land. The first is the question of what happened to the woman and the two men traveling with her. This mystery helps unravel the second mystery: Who is the person in the urn, and what was their story? Alexandra’s accomplice is a cab driver, Bobby, who drives her around Bulgaria and helps her on her fact-finding mission. In the process, readers also learn the reason why Alexandra has chosen to go to Bulgaria and uncover details about her own sad past.
Kostova was inspired to write the novel after more than 20 visits to Bulgaria. Bulgaria is not a common setting for novels, and its history is not very well known by many readers, yet it is part of the larger history of World War II, Communism, and labor camps. The Shadow Land is a beautiful book with descriptions of both the beauty and horror of a lesser-known country and its past.
I could not finish this book - though I did make it about 250 pages in. It's quite a long book, which doesn't usually deter me (I just finished Ron Chernow's Hamilton in one week so...)
But I just couldn't seem to get into this book. The story was painfully slow. It takes a hundred pages to even start to get to the story. And while the story is certainly a little like peeling an onion, revealing layers and layers underneath as you go, I was not invested enough in any of the characters to care what happened to them!
Alexandra seemed to be the least interesting character, yet she took up so much of the first half of the book. Her reminisces about her brother felt forced.
In the end, I had to put it down! I'm still going to give Historian a chance....
But I just couldn't seem to get into this book. The story was painfully slow. It takes a hundred pages to even start to get to the story. And while the story is certainly a little like peeling an onion, revealing layers and layers underneath as you go, I was not invested enough in any of the characters to care what happened to them!
Alexandra seemed to be the least interesting character, yet she took up so much of the first half of the book. Her reminisces about her brother felt forced.
In the end, I had to put it down! I'm still going to give Historian a chance....
This is the second book I've read by [a:Kostova, Elizabeth|15724634|Kostova, Elizabeth|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], the first being [b:The Historian|30236962|The Historian|Elizabeth Kostova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592232171l/30236962._SY75_.jpg|3061272] which I've read 2 or 3 times and refer to as one of my favorite novels. [b:The Shadow Land|31394293|The Shadow Land|Elizabeth Kostova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474474955l/31394293._SX50_.jpg|52067059] is a somewhat similar novel, but also vastly different.
Just as The Historian jumps between the 1930's, 1950's and 1970's, The Shadow Land jumps between the 1940's, 1950's, and late 90's/early 2000's. But whereas The Historian takes place in several European countries, The Shadow Land takes place almost entirely in Bulgaria.
Both novels are beautifully descriptive, with landscapes that come alive in the reverent way that Kostova does so well. However The Shadow Land has a much more personal feel to it than The Historian. All of the characters in this book, with maybe one or two small exceptions, felt incredibly well-realized. Those who were older felt like they had lived lifetimes, and those who were younger felt energetic and intrepid.
The plot itself ranged from light-hearted, to adventurous, to mysterious, to tragic, and almost every flavor in-between. There were also several moments of "coincidence" within the plot which in another novel may have felt cheesy or lazy but here they felt almost magical.
There's a lot of story-telling that occurs in this novel. In a way, it almost reminded me of [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872639l/11275._SY75_.jpg|2531376] which is another of my favorite novels. Also similar to that book, there was one particular section which was pretty hard for me to get through, just from the sheer brutality. In fact, while I think I would love to reread this novel someday, that one section may cause me to delay that reread for a number of years. Still, this was a great read, and I'm so glad I finally checked it out.
Just as The Historian jumps between the 1930's, 1950's and 1970's, The Shadow Land jumps between the 1940's, 1950's, and late 90's/early 2000's. But whereas The Historian takes place in several European countries, The Shadow Land takes place almost entirely in Bulgaria.
Both novels are beautifully descriptive, with landscapes that come alive in the reverent way that Kostova does so well. However The Shadow Land has a much more personal feel to it than The Historian. All of the characters in this book, with maybe one or two small exceptions, felt incredibly well-realized. Those who were older felt like they had lived lifetimes, and those who were younger felt energetic and intrepid.
The plot itself ranged from light-hearted, to adventurous, to mysterious, to tragic, and almost every flavor in-between. There were also several moments of "coincidence" within the plot which in another novel may have felt cheesy or lazy but here they felt almost magical.
There's a lot of story-telling that occurs in this novel. In a way, it almost reminded me of [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872639l/11275._SY75_.jpg|2531376] which is another of my favorite novels. Also similar to that book, there was one particular section which was pretty hard for me to get through, just from the sheer brutality. In fact, while I think I would love to reread this novel someday, that one section may cause me to delay that reread for a number of years. Still, this was a great read, and I'm so glad I finally checked it out.
I couldn’t put this book down. Set in Bulgaria, we see a communist regime story and a post-communist regime story intertwine into a fascinating book. The characters were all brilliantly fleshed out. The ones you are meant to like, you fall in love with. The ones you are meant to dislike, you loathe. Alexandra was a wonderfully strong character along with Bobby and all of the people they met along their journey. Great book!
Could not get through this, it felt very clunky. I'm amazed because Kostova's "The Historian" is one of my favorite books - I could not put it down! This one is set in Bulgaria like "Historian" but the American traveler is an absolute idiot, I got about 20% of the way through and had to quit.
I also don't like books where the narrator is in first person for one chapter and then switches to third person for another chapter. It's confusing and unnecessary.
I'm really disappointed because I was excited to read this!
I also don't like books where the narrator is in first person for one chapter and then switches to third person for another chapter. It's confusing and unnecessary.
I'm really disappointed because I was excited to read this!
Great story...once it gets started. Read the first chapter and then skip to the second half of the book. I'm not sure why the story about her brother was included.
Beautifully written
I enjoyed this so much! Kostova’s writing and storytelling is a treat. I’m always lost in the story and sad when it ends.
I enjoyed this so much! Kostova’s writing and storytelling is a treat. I’m always lost in the story and sad when it ends.