The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
This book was a recommendation from my daughter who loves books that can be lived in. This is one of them, and I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it. The characters are real, complex, and the story of the true Dracula was fascinating. His name was Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, a really interesting guy now that we can’t be impaled by him.
The depth and breadth of the settings made me feel like I had traveled Europe, from Romania with the wrinkled men and women of the villages to the rich, bustling cities of Buda-Pest. Kostova’s writing is beautiful, thoughtful, and historical, and still manages to have elements of fantasy and suspense that kept me turning the pages.
About Elizabeth Kostova: Elizabeth Johnson Kostova is an American author. She’s a graduate of Yale University and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won the Hopwood Award for the Novel-in-Progress.
Her first novel, The Historian, was published in 2005, and it has become a best-seller.
Jacket-flap: To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history…
Late one night, exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to ‘My dear and unfortunate successor’. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of – a labyrinth where the secrets of her father’s past and her mother’s mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history.
Hope you all take the time to read it!