The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

I absolutely loved this book. It is everything I want - rich, complex, insightful, dark, mysterious with a bit of love and romance thrown in to the mix. With a deep grasp on the nuances of human nature, Kostova has the brilliance to create a convincing otherworldly frightfest in Dracula. I'm more of a general vampire fan than fascinated with Dracula particularly. However, this portrayal was absolutely fascinating.

I was completely enthralled and fell madly in love with Kostova's descriptions of Europe. I actually went on a long overdue trip to Eastern Europe largely due to this book's influence. The adventures in the book range from England, to France, into Romania (of course), as well as Hungary and all the way to Turkey. The flavor and complexities of each culture are well defined as are the masterful descriptions of the individual cities and places described.

I love the character develoment - amazing. The plot lines were inventive and believable, just capitvating. Elizabeth Kostova is a master storyteller. I was happy to give her the money I spent on the book itself as well as the hours it took to finish all 900+ perfect pages.

A must read!

Reviews:
"Kostova has done something quite extraordinary.... She has refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner that will be sure to make you lose some precious hours of sleep.... She sets up the scene beautifully, and her description of the count himself is masterful, down to every bone-chilling detail... Kostova tells her otherworldly tale with great assurance and considerably style."

"Brooding and atmospheric.... Kostova has re-created a Dracula every bit as horrifying and as terrible as when the bloodsucking vampire first became fixed in popular culture with Bram Stoker's celebrated telling of the tale in 1897.... In the end, Kostova may have outdone Stoker."

"The Historian amounts to something profound.... We encounter obsession, possession, and the struggle against the brevity of life. It is an exploration of the eternal desire for intimacy."

"Almost impossible to put down.... An atmosphere thriller with an improbable-but-plausible plot, exotic locations, multidimensional characters, and an engaging style... Kostova's characters are very real, and their adventures are exciting.... Every page adds to the story, and the suspense never flags... By the end of the first chapter, the reader is thoroughly engage-and will remain so until the final sentences.. The Historian exercises an almost hypnotic spell."

"A thriller in more ways than one.. The Historian is a hypnotic yarn, saturated in authentic history and eerie intrigue.. Kostova has a genius for evoking places."

"An impressive debut... The Historian is intriguing for its thorough examination of what constitutes evil and why it exists... Kostova's thorough research and lively narrative will compel many in search of a good story, richly told and not soon forgotten."

"The is a marvelous book that draws the reader into an infectious vortex of mystery and discovery. It is beautifully written and full of real and believable characters, but what most impresses me is the way Elizabeth Kostova has taken an old and worn genre and made it entirely fresh and undeniably her own. This is great fiction."

"The Historian certainly is one terrific and fascinating read.... twists, turns, a series of grisly murders, and moments of terror make The Historian a deftly crafted, thrilling page turner of a vampire novel... A must-read for anyone with even a pretense to loving the genre."

"In what amounts to a compelling inversion of literature and history, Elizabeth Kostova gives a lush fiction based on the Vlad legend... Kostova's eye for detail, her subtle humor, and her thesis that 'in history, there are no tiny questions' make The Historian a rewarding read."

"An extremely accomplished first novel... something unexpectedly original. Kostova's writing has a leisurely grace, at times seeming closer to the nineteenth century than the twenty-first, evoking the English masters of suspense and horror."

"A sumptuous quest-novel with an intelligent woman as protagonist and narrator. And her narration is cool, thoughtful, intelligent... It draws you into the pages and you read on guiltily through the night."

"A smart, thickly textured suspense novel."

"Rich and evocative... With scholarly intrigue and globe-trotting adventure, the intriguing novel delves deep into the myth of Dracula. Kostova blends fact and fantasy to remind us that the original legend is rooted in monstrous acts and unblinking evil."

"Kostova's historical tracing of the real Vlad Drakulya is flawless... and the evocative writing and story achieve the sage magician's goal of 'suspending our disbelief.'... The Historian has whole chapters suffused with a quite, implacable dread."

"Kostova describes with sometimes chilling effect both the atmosphere of her settings and the political feel of the times... The Historian has a full-speed-ahead plot with plenty of twists and lots of cliff-hangers"

"Stuffed with rich, incense-laden cultural history and travelogue, The Historian is a smart, bibliophilic mystery."

"A thoroughly impressive and entertaining debut, epic in it's scope, deeply human in its concerns."

"The Historian has all the elements of a great story: history, suspense, a likable heroine, and Dracula."

A lush historical mystery.... Kostova uncoils an elegantly sinister quest among the undead..... It's bundled story steeped in history, suspense, love, and lore."

"The Historian is the first Dracula novel to focus on the bloodlines of Vlad Dracula's descendants-not just the bloody trail the vampire left behind. Elizabeth Kostova's stunning debut gives us a multilayered insider's look at 500 years of Eastern European history."

"The hottest book of the season.... Exhilaratingly beautiful and deliciously fresh.'

"Only one moment in Dracula's history limited his powers, and Kostova wraps her story around the historians' pursuit of ancient letters that provide clues to that complicated and difficult part of Dracula's life and undeath. Kostova excels at the kind of quirky details that bring her characters to vivid life.... Perhaps the most telling thing that can be said of The Historian is that at 704 pages it does not seem a word too long,"

"Hypnotic... A thrill ride through history." - Denver Post

"A thrilling page-turner of a vampire novel." - Baltimore Sun

"Genuinely terrifying." - Boston Globe

"Impossible to resist." - Miami Herald

Back Cover:

Breathtakingly Suspenseful and beautiful written. The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe-in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world.