kne 's review for:

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova

3.0

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Unfortunately this took me a long time to get through because I was busy with traveling and such, so I don't think I really appreciated it as much as I should have. As usual, Kostova's writing was the star of a very unusual plot. Alexandra ends up with a stranger's ashes and in trying to reunite them with the family ends up going on a road trip around Bulgaria with a taxi driver named Bobby and a dog named Stoycha, followed and threatened by unknown forces. While it sounds ridiculous when summarized, it doesn't feel ridiculous in the reading. I felt like I just got back from a road trip around Bulgaria, learning an awful lot about the country's past and present on the way. After the long, meandering trip, I was a bit put off by the abrupt and dramatic ending, but otherwise I enjoyed this slow read with deep characters and well-drawn settings. It was the kind of book whose tone and mood seemed to seep out of the pages and into my life for awhile after I finished it. I'll probably remember the feeling long after I forget the plot.

The fine print: received ARC from Edelweiss.