Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read the advanced copy of The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova. What an exciting adventure for young Alexandra as she comes to Bulgaria to teach, picks up the wrong luggage and becomes involved in a mystery dating back many years. As Bobby, a part time cab driver, leads her across the country to find the owners of the mysterious parcel, she learns about the country, its history, the people who lived here, and what she values in her own life. This is a memorable book I will think about for a long time and will recommend it to my book club and friends.

Having lived and worked in Eastern Europe for a long time, of all the countries Bulgaria is the one I knew least about and I have to say I know a lot more after reading this novel. It's not so much a mystery story as a discovery and it's clear the author understands some of the country's history well, especially the human aspect of it. What always hit me most with communist regimes was the total randomness of it all. One could get punished or exiled and never really know why. Bulgaria shares much of this kind of history with the other former East block countries and, like these countries it transitioned into another kind of corruption, this one of a more economic nature. Elizabeth Kostova manages to give her readers all of this in a nutshell. Enjoyable and enlightening.

Oh.
My.
Word...

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for Kostova's new book to be released and was SO excited that NetGalley let me review an advance copy of it!

Long story short--and it is a dense, lengthy read--it did not disappoint. What I love about Kostova's writing is that I get so lost in her world that she creates; I have such a hard time coming back up for air after it's done. I fell in love with her writing in The Historian. I didn't even know that the book was about Dracula until I was already so involved with the characters and the plot, that I didn't care that it was about vampires...or I should say--THE vampire. I think this is part of her genius as a writer--she can write about ANYTHING and it is moving, beautiful, and engaging. When people ask what her books are about, I have such a hard time providing a succinct summary. How do you summarize a piece of art?

The Shadow Land totally lived up to my expectations and hopes! I was over halfway through the book and still had no idea what was going on, what was going to happen, or who I wanted to learn about the most. Kostova's haunting tale about love, forgiveness, and family walks along two uniquely tangled timelines in Bulgaria. History buffs will love her vivid (sometimes horrifying and heartbreaking) description of what the people of Bulgaria have gone through. The book also appeals to readers who love music, literature, and a small sprinkling of magic in their books.

I can't really describe the storyline without giving too much away, but you really should read this book. I finished it two days ago and I still cannot stop seeing the characters when I close my eyes.

The author had previous success with her book The Historian, which is also on my future reading list, so I had opened this one with high hopes. We have a young American woman, Alexandra, who travels to Bulgaria to teach in honor of the memory of her dead brother who had wanted to visit the country. Alexandra, during her first few minutes in the city of Sofia, accidentally finds herself with someone else’s luggage. Once she discovers that she has someone else’s bag she is determined to find them to return it to them as the bag contains human ashes. Therein her adventure starts.

What struck me most about The Shadow Land is how the author, Kostova, is able to paint such beautiful pictures with her words. The book has enough detail to make the story clear in my mind without being obvious about it. She describes the towns that Alexandra visits so well that the descriptions themselves are enough to engulf me in the book. I think that is an art unto itself. Most books pull you in with their general story and plot, Kostova got me hooked with her lovingly rendered locations. I’ve run across very few author’s who are able to do that.

That being said…

If it wasn’t her descriptions the book wouldn’t be worth reading. Once Alexandra discovers she has someone else’s belongings she has her cab driver take her to the police to report it. What is the obvious thing to do at this point? Leave the bag with the police. What does Alexandra do? She and her cab driver named Bobby traipse all over the country to try to return the bag to it’s owner. Yes, how very nice of her etc etc. Despite being nice it is ridiculous. She is in a country she has never been to where they speak a language she does not know where she and her cab driver that she also doesn’t know drive all over creation to find people she doesn’t know. With all honesty, without Bobby the story would be completely unreadable. Alexandra follows him and his orders like a puppy. She seems to have no original thoughts outside of the occasional ramble about her dead brother. Without her brother she would have absolutely zero personality or thoughts. It is infuriating.

The most interesting character in this story is, funnily enough, the dead man whose ashes she is carting around. During flash backs we get to see the man’s, Stoyan, life. He was an accomplished violinist and through a very simple error ended up a political prisoner. During his story we are with him in a prison forced labor camp. It breaks my heart all this man goes through trying to get back to his wife. The poor man certainly didn’t get a happily-ever-after.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. I couldn’t. I spent more time reading it getting frustrated with what seemed a pointless endeavor than anything else. All the beautiful story telling in the world couldn’t salvage it for me. After reading over 400 pages the conclusion, when you actually find out what was going on, is maybe three paragraphs. I wanted to throw it. I read that part twice hoping I had missed something that would make the rest of the story worth it but I was just left, well, frustrated. Not the kind of book I wanted to start the new year with.