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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
'The Shadow Land' by Elizabeth Kostova is a good thriller and an even better mystery! It deftly weaves in the real-life past history of the Soviet occupation of Bulgaria after World War II and how the effects of that period linger on. However, the book has a few faults in pacing and character motivations while the protagonists travel around what is obviously a beloved Bulgaria by the author. Also, I see some readers focus in negatively on some implausible coincidences - but I do not. At least, not for this novel. If contrived plot twists excessively bothered me, I'd give up reading as very few books unfold in a natural and uncontrived fashion, especially mysteries and thrillers.
Twenty-six-year-old Alexandra Boyd has agreed to teach English in Sofia, Bulgaria after graduating from college. She had come from a small city in the Blue Ridge Mountains, moving between her two divorced parents, teachers themselves. What had caused the divorce of her parents and her choice of Bulgaria to teach was the disappearance of her brother Jack on a hiking trip. Bulgaria had been a place he wanted to visit one day after he grew up.
Alexandra never got over Jack's disappearance because she blamed herself when he went missing. They had had a childish argument on a family hike up a trail. Ever since, she has looked for opportunities sometimes to punish herself for her part in his refusing to continue the hike with them, maybe running away.
A cab driver in Sofia has delivered Alexandra to the wrong hotel. She didn't notice until she got out of the cab. While trying to decide what to do because of her limited funds, she watched an elderly couple, a man in a wheelchair and a woman, with a younger tall man, leave the hotel. She puts down her bags to help them settle in a cab with their own bags. Afterwards, she gets a cab and her bags and tells the driver the address of her hostel where she has reservations. While they are driving there, she sees she has one of the old man's bags. Inside is a carved wooden box full of ashes with the name Stoyan Lazarov on a plaque.
Alexandria bursts into tears. She becomes desperately, frantically, eager to find the three people to whom the urn belongs. The cab driver, at first cautious, becomes inexplicably interested in Alexandra's problem. She remembers they told her they were going to Velin Monastery.
This information begins a journey of detection and deepening mystery! The cab driver, Asparuh (Bobby) Iliev, decides to drive Alexandra wherever she needs to go to track down the two old people and the young man. Bobby ends up being invaluable to Alexandra as she speaks no Bulgarian. He basically deserts his job for the next week. She doesn't entirely trust him, but she is beside herself in grief for having accidentally grabbed the satchel with the urn.
As the two young people follow clues, they end up seeing a lot of Bulgaria. They travel on a lot of bad roads, visiting old towns and pass by ugly Soviet-era buildings mixed into thousand-year-old residential areas. The countryside is gorgeous and Alexandra can't take her eyes away from the sights beyond the cab's windows. Ominously, both soon know someone is following them, threatening them with messages left on their car. Weirdly, the two pick up a dog which insists on being with them.
Why is someone interested in them? Alexandra is not deterred, although she is very frightened. Bulgaria is a corrupt country, and still more of a police state than not. But the idea of these elderly people not having their loved one with them is more than she can stand. Frankly, gentle reader, I think she is mental. But if she wasn't, there would be no book. So.
Halfway in the book, the life story of Stoyan Lazarov is told. It is horrible, gentle reader. He was a brilliant musician who studied music and the violin in Vienna before Hitler came to power. But he returns to Sofia in 1940 to take care of his parents and hopefully be in a safer city than Vienna. As the events of World War II play out, particularly after the Soviet communists take over Bulgaria, anyone who studied in a foreign country is considered a criminal. Without trial or a sentence, Lazarov is picked up and is shipped to a concentration camp. Three times.
The author did a lot of research about the history of Bulgarian communism and the camps the government set up. It is awful, gentle reader.
The book is enlightening about historical events of which Westerners know little. The country of Bulgaria is vividly described by Kostova as she has lived there for twenty years. The improbable search Alexandra and her cab driver undertake looking for the family of Lazarov offers readers slowly building thrills and chills of an increasingly dangerous quest, but I agree that for literary fans this novel falls short. But as a historical mystery, it is engrossing and deeply disturbing.
Twenty-six-year-old Alexandra Boyd has agreed to teach English in Sofia, Bulgaria after graduating from college. She had come from a small city in the Blue Ridge Mountains, moving between her two divorced parents, teachers themselves. What had caused the divorce of her parents and her choice of Bulgaria to teach was the disappearance of her brother Jack on a hiking trip. Bulgaria had been a place he wanted to visit one day after he grew up.
Alexandra never got over Jack's disappearance because she blamed herself when he went missing. They had had a childish argument on a family hike up a trail. Ever since, she has looked for opportunities sometimes to punish herself for her part in his refusing to continue the hike with them, maybe running away.
A cab driver in Sofia has delivered Alexandra to the wrong hotel. She didn't notice until she got out of the cab. While trying to decide what to do because of her limited funds, she watched an elderly couple, a man in a wheelchair and a woman, with a younger tall man, leave the hotel. She puts down her bags to help them settle in a cab with their own bags. Afterwards, she gets a cab and her bags and tells the driver the address of her hostel where she has reservations. While they are driving there, she sees she has one of the old man's bags. Inside is a carved wooden box full of ashes with the name Stoyan Lazarov on a plaque.
Alexandria bursts into tears. She becomes desperately, frantically, eager to find the three people to whom the urn belongs. The cab driver, at first cautious, becomes inexplicably interested in Alexandra's problem. She remembers they told her they were going to Velin Monastery.
This information begins a journey of detection and deepening mystery! The cab driver, Asparuh (Bobby) Iliev, decides to drive Alexandra wherever she needs to go to track down the two old people and the young man. Bobby ends up being invaluable to Alexandra as she speaks no Bulgarian. He basically deserts his job for the next week. She doesn't entirely trust him, but she is beside herself in grief for having accidentally grabbed the satchel with the urn.
As the two young people follow clues, they end up seeing a lot of Bulgaria. They travel on a lot of bad roads, visiting old towns and pass by ugly Soviet-era buildings mixed into thousand-year-old residential areas. The countryside is gorgeous and Alexandra can't take her eyes away from the sights beyond the cab's windows. Ominously, both soon know someone is following them, threatening them with messages left on their car. Weirdly, the two pick up a dog which insists on being with them.
Why is someone interested in them? Alexandra is not deterred, although she is very frightened. Bulgaria is a corrupt country, and still more of a police state than not. But the idea of these elderly people not having their loved one with them is more than she can stand. Frankly, gentle reader, I think she is mental. But if she wasn't, there would be no book. So.
Halfway in the book, the life story of Stoyan Lazarov is told. It is horrible, gentle reader. He was a brilliant musician who studied music and the violin in Vienna before Hitler came to power. But he returns to Sofia in 1940 to take care of his parents and hopefully be in a safer city than Vienna. As the events of World War II play out, particularly after the Soviet communists take over Bulgaria, anyone who studied in a foreign country is considered a criminal. Without trial or a sentence, Lazarov is picked up and is shipped to a concentration camp. Three times.
The author did a lot of research about the history of Bulgarian communism and the camps the government set up. It is awful, gentle reader.
The book is enlightening about historical events of which Westerners know little. The country of Bulgaria is vividly described by Kostova as she has lived there for twenty years. The improbable search Alexandra and her cab driver undertake looking for the family of Lazarov offers readers slowly building thrills and chills of an increasingly dangerous quest, but I agree that for literary fans this novel falls short. But as a historical mystery, it is engrossing and deeply disturbing.
This author is so good at weaving epic stories. I’m so glad I found this one while perusing the library shelves. This story spans present day to late 1940s. It goes between the story of Alexandra, visiting teacher from America, and Stoyan, a concert violinist in 1940s. Their stories are brought together by a urn that ends up in Alexandra’s travel bags at a hotel/hostel she is staying at. I loved the way I could visualize the people and places of Bulgaria. The book taught me about life in Bulgaria during the Iron Curtain.
I enjoyed this book and the story, set in the present day and in the past, is entertaining. Honestly, though, the historical parts are far better and more interesting than the present day wild goose chase that is the set up for the whole book. Recommended for the history of Bulgaria and the heart wrenching story of Stoyan and his family but be ready to suspend your belief and accept a lot of unlikely coincidences.
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
After finishing Kostova's second novel, Swan Thieves, I decided to read some reviews for that book. Many people felt that the style of Swan Thieves deviated too much from that of her first novel, The Historian. I will say that I agreed with them, but I admire Kostova for being such a malleable artist. For those that enjoyed The Historian I think you will enjoy Shadow Land. The pace is much quicker and it has much more in common with The Historian. All three of Kostova's novels are beautifully written and have such interesting, complex characters. I can't wait to read her next novel.
3.6/5. I enjoyed the story overall although it did drag at points. The protagonist, Alexandra, seemed to be kind of…meh. I don’t know how else to describe her, she didn’t seem to do much in the book outside of be cute/naïve/innocent and thus win people over. The other characters were much more interesting. It wasn’t, ultimately, as immersive or haunting as The Historian was. I had to suspend a lot of belief to get into the story; Alexandra essentially throws caution to the wind repeatedly throughout the novel in a strange country where she’s traveling by herself. Again, just extreme naïveté.
This was a great book to read during my flu recovery period. Even though it deals with difficult subjects, the whole thing has a dreamlike fairytale quality.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is one where you really have to suspend belief. To me that’s what takes it from five stars to four. The story has a similar tone to The Historian, or in a way a more realistic Dan Brown book. It’s part adventure mystery history with deep emotional resonance. It’s sad and yet moving and I was hooked. I also love the descriptions and details about Bulgaria, a country I do not know much about.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes