The Shadowland by Elizabeth Kostova

The Shadowland by Elizabeth Kostova 

Book Review

Sofia, Bulgaria

From the title and from having previously read The Historian (about Vampires) by this author, I was expecting something different from this book. After that initial disappointment I was able to quickly immerse myself in the story and go with it because the beginning of the book is quite mysterious making the reader want to continue on.

I never really considered the country of Bulgaria and this book opened my eyes about this place. The mysterious beginning pulled me in and the story is told in a series of flashbacks from the main character Alexandria's life and the life of the person whose cremation urn she inadvertently received possession of as the book starts. Alexandra is still mourning the disappearance of her older brother one day on a family hiking trip, and decides to start a new chapter of her life by taking a teaching assignment in far away Bulgaria. She and her brother had always dreamed of visiting Bulgaria ever since they were young children and found a map of the country in an old world atlas their father had at home.

When she arrives in Bulgaria she has a chance meeting with three people outside her hotel in Sofia, the capital city of the country. After that encounter she realizes she is now in possession of an extra suitcase that is not hers. The case contains a burial urn with human ashes. She embarks on a wild journey lasting a few weeks, taking her all around the countrysides of Bulgaria, to try and track down the owners of the burial urn.

Kostova's writing is very descriptive and the mystery of the person in the urn and the tumultuous post WW II history of Bulgaria unfolds slowly throughout the book. The reader tags along with Alexandria on her journey of self discovery and in search of the people that lost the urn.

 

I reality though, the book is a bit of a slog, going on and on with little action happening with somewhat improbable circumstances following this girl around Bulgaria. She knows nothing about the country, can hardly communicate with the people, has little money, and does not even bring a change of clothes as she is miraculously befriended by a complete stranger (but a kind one) who is an English/Bulgarian speaking taxi driver that conveniently has nothing better to do for several days and they embark on a wild goose chase across Bulgaria to find the owners of the urn. If you can get past all that you can enjoy the story for what it is, a haunting and bittersweet tale of a nation's resiliency through a time of political oppression and the triumph of a people to withstand hardship and still go on with a smidgen of hope for a better future. 

A bit bland, a bit slow, 400 pages of not a lot of action, Alexandra is kind of a weak character, and a gay character is just thrown in there with no relevance to the story line, but I don't feel I wasted my time reading this book. Many issues remain unresolved by the time the book concludes but I still enjoyed the read. I expanded my horizons, one of the reasons I love to read so much and the author does have a talent with words. (3.5 stars out of 5)