A review by whiteknight247
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova

3.0

Kostova creates another passion project that drives readers directly into the emotional, cultural, and physical depth of Bulgaria. I found it a fascinating piece creating the history and the changes from the end of WWII to Soviet control, to the rebirth of democracy and the discovery that an entire generation of people have to relearn how to live together with themselves and with each other after everything they experienced. I enjoyed the character development and the intrigue as Bird and Bobby tried to solve the mystery of why they had the cremated remains and how the story of those remains fit into the larger picture of the Bulgarian political landscape. At times it felt a little contrived as they experienced the same thing over and over, moving from one location to the next picking up just enough clues to get them to the next location and next story, but even with that basic trope I still enjoyed reading Kostova's rendition of Bulgaria in transformation. Similar to how the Historian had me pining to visit Hungary, the Shadow Land has me looking forward to my visit to Bulgaria.