Elizabeth Kostova has a way with words that takes you inside the story as the descriptions of the surroundings and places become alive.
The plot is a bit complicated but marvelous written.

So expansive and descriptive of Bulgaria and Kostova, better than anyone can describe in such an evocative way.

Beautiful, and heartfelt.

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova was hard to put down. It was one of those books that kept me up until 4:00 a.m., two nights in a row, because I just had to know what was happening next. Like her book, The Historian, the author wraps the reader into the pages and leaves us wanting more.

In The Shadow Land the author melds the past and the present into one story and tells the tale of a dark time in Bulgaria's past. A past (in the not so distant time) when a person could be taken from their family, with no warning or trial, and sent to labor camps until someone decided to let you out. Chilling and masterfully related to the reader by relating the experience of concert violinist Stoyan Lazarov.

Alexandra is a young woman who has come to Sofia to teach when she accidentally picks up the box holding the ashes of Stoyan Lazarov. In her quest to return the remains to Mr. Lazarov's family, Alexandra is aptly aided by Bobby, the Bulgarian taxt driver with many secrets of his own. When they are followed to where the family is supposed to be, they discover that not only is the family in peril, but so are Alexandra and Bobby and they people they meet along the trip.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I honestly loved this book and highly recommend it to other readers. I also recommend The Historian, which is on my top ten list.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel.
Elizabeth Kostova's writing is wonderfully imaginative and appeasing. Her flow of words asks for the reader to dive in. This novel adds to her repertoire of great novels of our time.
I really enjoyed the layout of this one. We start in modern time. We then flashback to the narrator's past. Then we go back to another character's past. The author made it understandable and not like anything I have ever read.
The author also made this one so atmospheric. The natural surrounds in the present felt real, the past felt real. I really enjoyed this. Not a lot of novels are based in Bulgaria and as the reader, I didn't know anything about the state of things there. It was all explained to me as I was reading and was refreshing.
The plot was interesting. I questioned some of motives and actions of he main character, but knowing now where the story went, it makes sense.
I really am looking forward to reading more by Elizabeth Kostova.

I love Elizabeth Kostova's previous work but this story wasn't interesting to me. I much prefer her stories with darker undertones. I didn't connect with these characters right away so it was difficult to finish.

This book was a glorious surprise to read. I never gave much thought to Bulgaria, but have now added it to my ever-growing travel wish list. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Kostova, but I suspect it won't be the last. Her writing draws you in and holds you, as I can ruefully attest to by more than one night of too little sleep. The story is good, and sheds light on a subject I was not knowledgeable about previously, and the descriptions of the small towns are enough to transport you there. Well done indeed.

This is an honest review in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley.

I am saddened that I could not like this book more. I do not like giving low stars for any book for I feel that does a complete disservice to the author and publisher.

I loved this book. I know others have said they thought it started very slowly but I didn't have that experience. In trying to tell someone about the book I realized how complex the plot is. I thought the tension built appropriately through the book--it was a slow, steady build. I loved the characters of Bobby and Alexandra and then others they met along the way including Stoycha.

The history of the Bulgarian work camps was a new revelation to me. Lazarov's brilliant career made for an interesting contrast. I wanted to drink wine and listen to Vivaldi as I read this book.

Great twists and turns as the plot unfolds for the final reveal. Again, I loved it!

As soon as our main character, and American, sets foot in Sofia, Bulgaria, her mystery begins. In this strange but beautiful country for a teaching position, Alexandra is expecting to do some sight-seeing before she begins her teaching assignment. But when she helps a young man and two elderly people who are struggling with their bas, her life changes forever. After settling the threesome in cab, Alexandra realizes that she still has one of their bags. Upon searching the bag for some id, she discovers it contains a beautiful urn filled with ashes, human ashes. Her hunt for the bag’s owners begins, revealing an unimaginable and complex mystery and leading to new and lasting friendships as well as unforgettable experiences.

This historical fiction is very well-written and peopled with realistic and memorable characters. The mystery slowly reveals itself, as the story unfurls, leading the reader into Alexandra’s past, present, and future. Although this story is a bit overly-long and drawn out in places, it is excellent.

Well, I'm not sure where to start this review, so I'm going to start with my pre-reading expectations. When I realized that Elizabeth Kostova had a new book coming out, I was beyond thrilled. I'm sure a lot of reviews for The Shadow Land are going to mention what is arguably Kostova's most highly regarded work, The Historian, which I truly loved. I was so excited to see what Kostova would bring to the table with this promising new book, but after reading The Shadow Land, I'm fairly disappointed. I've seen so many four- and five-star reviews for this book that I just feel like I'm missing something or not quite getting it.

The story centers around Alexandra, a young woman who takes a job at a Bulgarian university in which she will teach English. Once she arrives in Bulgaria, however, she accidentally mixes up some luggage with some people she comes across and ends up with a container full of the cremated remains of an unknown person. The entire rest of the story is basically her journey to find the relatives of the man who has died. It's a somewhat hard to believe scenario, but hey, this is fiction-land, so it could happen, right?

The biggest issues I had with this book were the paper-thin plot and the characters, which are two pretty important parts of a book. The plot was ended up being so hard to suspend my belief for, and I tried to justify this with the fact that this book is much more character-driven and seemed to be more about their journey and development, but not even the characters were enough to convince me. There was also a lot of description, and while I'm cool with some in-depth, descriptive writing, this just became too clunky.

Alexandra Boyd, our protagonist, was frankly quite dull to me. She had some strong moments, but for the most part I just found her incredible naive and really quite inept in her many interactions with people. The positive aspect of Alexandra's character was her development, as I felt that she underwent some strong emotional journeys within this book as she came to terms with some of the familial issues of her past. (And as a side note: The amount of times people commented that her name was Russian frustrated me to no end.)

Bobby, a taxi driver that Alexandra meets and becomes close friends with, was a much more interesting character for me. I was much more intrigued by his ever-present mysteriousness and ease at handling a variety of situations, both dangerous and otherwise. In contrast, I felt that he was portrayed as far more mysterious than he actually was.

The last notable character I'd like to mention is Stoyan Lazarov himself, the man whose remains are found by Alexandra. I was very intrigued by his tragic tale, and though I did feel it dragged on a bit too long at times, it still deeply fulfilling and full of wonderfully written character development.

An aspect of this book that I loved was the setting of Bulgaria. Kostova really seems to capture the beauty and atmosphere of Bulgaria without trying to cover up any aspect of the country. This book made me want to visit Bulgaria and learn more about it, and this interest and newfound knowledge of Bulgaria is something that will certainly stay with me.

Overall, I've given The Shadow Land three stars. On the one hand, this was a moving, deeply emotional story. On the other, it dragged and was unrealistic. If you enjoy a slow-paced, intricately told story with character-focused storylines, then I do recommend you check this out. If you're expecting something similar to The Historian, you should put those expectations aside and read this as its own book.

Elizabeth Kostova has been a favorite author of mine for almost fifteen years, despite a relatively low output in that amount of time. Her first novel, The Historian, ranks among my top-five all-time favorite books -- of any genre. She followed up that supremely atmospheric, gothic supernatural debut with something a little different; her sophomore work The Art Thieves was a total departure in tone, plot, and character. With The Shadow Land, her third published novel to date, Kostova once again employs the narrative structure of dual, connected storylines in different eras, though she tackles new themes and ideas her historical look at Bulgaria.

Descriptive, layered, and detailed, Kostova's style is storytelling is given to be rather verbose. Her brand of storytelling relies heavily on using the setting and research to help foster the plot; this is an author that can recreate a vivid time and place. The plot of The Shadow Land is narrowly focused and centered on an American teacher Alexandra Boyd ("Bird"), a mysterious figure named Stoyan Lazarov, and the history of Bulgaria as experienced by those two characters in their differing times. The beginning of the novel is rather slow and takes time to create any real tension or suspense for Alex or her stalwart cab driver Bobby ("Bo-bi"!). Still, it's easy to fall into Kostova's recreated Sofia thanks to the author's obvious due diligence when it came to research.

I did like this novel, but have to admit it is my least favorite Kostova. I am sad to say that for all its merits, and while technically proficient and impressive, it lacks an emotional connection. Even though Kostova is given using emotionally-distant narrators and main characters, it was hard to engage with Alex's inner monologue. For the first half of the book her main emotion is tiredness and general helplessness; hoping someone else will find the solution to her problem. I missed the agency and decisiveness of past protagonists from this author; I also missed the chemistry between love interests. Though Bird and Bobby are great friends, theirs is a bond that's purely platonic and it lacks the oomph. Simply put: this book lacked the ability to create emotional investment. I was more drawn into the story for the writing itself than for the outcome of Alex/Stoyan's stories.

The Shadow Land is a novel that showcases the power of the past, combined with this author's usual descriptive style to create a good historical fiction in an often-overlooked country.

Wow. I liked this one even more than the Historian. Ya know how you have those moments in your life where you seem to hear about something and then that's all you can hear about? That's how Stalin and his infamy and the spread of the evil have been for me...including this book.

But the best thing about her books, without question, is the endings. And I don't just mean where they leave you in the story. I mean, the whole last fourth or fifth of the book is so packed with revelations and twists and surprises that I cannot wait to finish! Of course, at the same time I am devastated when they end because they are so good!

Going to immediately find Swan Thieves, as I didn't know about it before!

I thoroughly enjoyed the almost 500 pages of The Shadow Land. At first it seemed like a very weak premise, the finding of the real keeper of the urn. (That whole storyline came together very well at the end). Then I realized that the actual purpose for writing this saga was Ms. Kostova’s love of Bulgaria.

Her research was extraordinary. She was able to go into detail about many subjects – Bulgaria itself and its history, the atrocities it suffered in the camps, Vivaldi, and so much more – without my every feeling I was reading a textbook. Well done.

The only thing I was not crazy about was the many references to Alexandra’s brother, Jack, who went missing twelve years ago. I thought her grief for him was depicted as a little too fresh. I found this not credible.

Overall, I thought it was a very good read, and I thank NetGalley for allowing me to review it.

I thought that this book would be really interesting from the description that was posted on NetGalley, however, I had a very hard time getting through the book. I couldn't get attached or emotionally involved with any of the characters - the beginning was just a bit too cryptic for me switching from Alexandra's childhood and her lost brother to the man in the urn.

It wasn't an enjoyable read for me.

When Alexandra accidentally keeps a bag that doesn't belong to her, she embarks on a cross country trek through Bulgaria to return the valuable contents. The story alternates from Alexandra's story in present day and Stoyan Lazarov's story in the 1950's, I was fully invested in both and how they were woven together. I truly enjoyed this novel and the characters that Elizabeth Kostova created. It opened up history that I had no idea about.

I always love Elizabeth Kostova's writing-it's beautiful and her imagery is outstanding. I felt like I could really see the different areas in Bulgaria that she was describing. I liked the main characters and the story was compelling. I really didn't know anything about Bulgaria's past and some of it was definitely frightening. The story jumps back and forth between two POVs-Alexandra -a present day American writer/teacher and Stoyan -the man who's ashes Alexandra gets stuck with by accident and is trying to return. I found some of the POV changes a little awkward but both the past and present stories were interesting. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for this ARC in return for my unbiased review.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

DNF

I want to refrain from comparing this book to "The Historian," but since that book was well-received by critics and readers, it's easy to do so. I wanted to like this book because I loved "The Historian."

The book took forever to get into and after 15% of it, I was annoyed by the main character's naivete.

From other reviews I read to determine if I should continue, the book was slow-paced with no real development.

I couldn't do it when I was already annoyed by the main character and the story was just starting.

THE SHADOW LAND
by
Elizabeth Kostova

When Alexandra Boyd, a young American, arrives in Sofia, Bulgaria to teach, a taxi drops her at the wrong hotel. After the jet-lagged Alexandra encounters a Bulgarian family outside the hotel, she gets into another taxi, to take her to the proper location, and belatedly realizes that one of the family’s bags is now accidentally in her possession. Looking inside, she discovers that the bag contains an urn with the cremated remains of Stoyan Lazarov. With the help of an unusual taxi driver, Alexandra embarks on a sort of single minded mission to find the family so that she can return the remains. While the taxi driver drives Alexandra seemingly all around Bulgaria in search of the family, we learn about Stoyan Lazarov, a gifted musician, and about the history of labor camps in Bulgaria.

I loved Kostova’s earlier novels, The Historian and The Swam Thieves (see reviews dated June 27, 2015), and I was so looking forward to reading more of her work. The Shadow Land, however, left me disappointed.

The story line in The Shadow Land feels contrived, forced. Although Alexandra’s chance meeting with the family sets up the meat of the story, the whole premise seems unrealistic and, well, somewhat silly. Alexandra’s backstory, about her life in North Carolina, is interesting, but feels irrelevant to the real story that Kostova wants to tell. In fact, Alexandra herself does not seem to add much to this real story – she is just a nice young woman who wants to return remains that accidentally ended up in her possession and is just along for the ride.

Kostova wanted to tell Stoyan’s story – and it is a good one; she wanted to tell Bulgaria’s story – and it is interesting. But, the vehicle she employs to tell these stories, Alexandra, does not work, and the plot feels disjointed. Alexandra feels superfluous.

Kostova has done a good job of capturing the fear that permeated Bulgarian citizens in Stoyan’s heyday. She has done a good job of capturing the horrific nature of the secret labor camps. It is clear that she loves her adopted country. But, I am not sure that she has succeeded in conveying the basis of that love to her readers. After completing the book, I do not see the beauty or feel the pull of the country that Kostova obviously does, and I feel no inclination that Bulgaria is a “must-see”.

Although I am still a fan – and will again await Kostova’s next novel – The Shadow Land does not measure up to the usual Kostova standards.

The Shadow Land can be described as an historical mystery book with a dark, gothic side. The book takes place predominantly in Bulgaria and alternates between the present time and the past. Alexandra, the main character, is dealing with the wounds remaining from the loss of her brother when she was a teenager. This leads her to Bulgaria and smack dab in the middle of a wrong time, wrong place type situation that starts her on an adventure through the country in an effort to return a very important lost item that wound up in her hands to its rightful owner. Along the way, she's introduced to the beautiful parts and wonderful people of Bulgaria with the help of Bobby, a taxi driver who becomes both her tour guide and good friend. Unfortunately, she also learns of Bulgaria's tragic, dark past and how it affected one family. This is where the mystery aspect of this book comes in. The author paints a very sad, dark story in this book. It was a little difficult for me to read and keep interest in because the writing just dragged. I did finish it because I felt invested enough in the characters and the story. While the ending did bring some resolution, I still felt like there were unanswered questions. Overall, I did appreciate the Bulgarian history and cultural lessons, but felt the story could have been carried through a little better.

In Elizabeth Kostova’s The Shadow Land, Alexandra Boyd, a young woman haunted by her past, stumbles into an adventure that will change her life within an hour of arriving in Sofia, Bulgaria. The ghost that haunts her is her older brother who died at sixteen in the most guilt-inducing circumstances possible. She has come to Bulgaria to teach, but her deeper purpose is to fulfill her brother’s dream of traveling there. Perhaps by traveling to where he always wanted to go, she can conquer her grief.

Her adventure starts out pretty small, she accidentally picks up a bag belonging to some people she helped with their luggage as they got into the taxi before her. Looking inside the bag for a name, she finds a burial urn with the ashes of a man named Stoyan Lazarov. Decency demands she do all she can to return their loved one’s ashes. It’s all pretty simple, really, leave a message at the hotel, check in with the police, go to where they mentioned they planned to go, and just follow through until she finds them. Luckily, Bobby, her taxi cab driver, is surprisingly amendable to pursuing this mission. He is even more surprisingly adept at investigating.

But it gets complicated. The taxi is repeatedly vandalized. Someone is following them, leaving threats. The family they are searching for seems to be hiding, not answering the phone, not returning calls. Even when they track down family of the people they are looking for, their family cannot reach them.

Meanwhile, they learn more and more about the man whose ashes they are carrying around Bulgaria. A master violinist, an intriguing man, a man of secrets, a man whose secrets match his talents. A counter narrative develops, following Stoyan Lazarov’s life from when he returns from Vienna in 1940, through the war and the Communist regime that follows, including his several years in a brutal labor camp.

There are all the elements of a very moving story in The Shadow Land, but some of Kostova’s decisions as an author distanced me from it emotionally. Despite the damage that happens to taxi, I never felt that Alexandra was ever in jeopardy. Even with the violence at the denouement, the jeopardy was too distant.

The labor camp narrative was harrowing, but again, we know he survives the camp since we know he died in 2006. It is also focused on his mental strategies for surviving the camp, his daily rituals of raising an imaginary son, rehearsing and playing music in his head. We know exactly how he raised the son that did not exist. Moreover, much of his story is told in stories by people they visit or in his written narrative they discover. It might have been more interesting if rather than being told as history, it was told more immediately as flashbacks.

The biggest problem, though, is that Alexandra was not that important to the result. Sure, she picked up the wrong bag. Sure, she wanted to get it back to the rightful owners, no doubt helped in her determination by the good looks of the man who left the bag. But who did the investigating? Who did the work? Bobby! Bobby was the real actor, Alexandra was literally and metaphorically, just a passenger. She had as much personality as a stale dishcloth. Bobby was interesting, Bobby was smart. I would read another book about Bobby, but not about Alexandra.

My favorite character was a dog–a very special dog. The dog was clever, loyal, smart, and the most decisive actor in the story. Seriously, without the dog, the story could have ended very differently. I loved the dog. I also really liked Bobby, who was the complex and interesting character in the book. Sadly, though, we soon learn that Bobby is a national award-winning poet, yet Kostova does not share one stanza of his poetry with us. That’s not fair.

On a more positive note, the story reveals Kostova’s deep love of the people and the land of Bulgaria. There’s folklore, history, and descriptions that make me want to go there. I want to see those houses, those villages, those mountains. There are several secondary characters who are truly interesting, an old woman-seer, an artist, an old woman and her daughter. They are fascinating. If only the main character could compete.

The Shadow Land will be released April 11th. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.