A review by itsmeashleygee
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova

5.0

The Shadow Land is a force of a book, mysterious and compelling on every page. Kostova blends a family saga with a political mystery, among an evocative portrait of a country and its people in the background. The story follows Alexandra, wrecked with grief and guilt of the death of her brother, to Bulgaria. A brief and completely random encounter with a family on the steps of a hotel changes her life—and theirs. Alexandra and the other characters bloom slowly and delicately across the novel’s length, while the mysteries surrounding generations of the family on the steps stopped the breath in my lungs. It’s a masterful book, one that takes the lightest touch in connecting characters to each other, in drawing images across the page. Every detail becomes important in its own time, every character belongs in the space Kostova creates for them. Beautifully, beautifully done.