The Shadow Land
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
From the #1 bestselling author of The Historian comes a mesmerizing novel that spans the past and the present and unearths the troubled history of a gorgeous but haunted country.
A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia,...
A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia,...
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Klappentext zu „The Shadow Land “
From the #1 bestselling author of The Historian comes a mesmerizing novel that spans the past and the present and unearths the troubled history of a gorgeous but haunted country.A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria, hoping that life abroad will salve the wounds left by the loss of her beloved brother. Soon after arriving in this elegant East European city, however, she helps an elderly couple into a taxi and realizes too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers that she is holding an urn filled with human ashes.
As Alexandra sets out to locate the family and return this precious item, she will first have to uncover the secrets of a talented musician who was shattered by political oppression and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger.
Elizabeth Kostova s new novel is a tale of immense scope that delves into the horrors of a century and traverses the culture and landscape of this mysterious country. Suspenseful and beautifully written, it explores the power of stories, the pull of the past, and the hope and meaning that can sometimes be found in the aftermath of loss.
Praise for The Shadow Land
A compelling and complex mystery, strong storytelling, and lyrical writing combine for an engrossing read. Publishers Weekly
In The Shadow Land, Elizabeth Kostova, a master storyteller, brings vividly to life an unfamiliar country Bulgaria and a painful history that feels particularly relevant now. You won t want to put down this remarkable book. Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs
In this brilliant work, what appears at first a minor mystery quickly becomes emblematic of a whole country s hidden history. Lyrical and compelling, The Shadow Land proves a profound meditation on how evil is inflicted,
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endured, and, through courage and compassion, defeated. Elizabeth Kostova s third novel clearly establishes her as one of America s finest writers. Ron Rash, author of The Risen
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Lese-Probe zu „The Shadow Land “
OneSofia, the year 2008. The month of May, impeccable spring weather, and the goddess Capitalism sitting on her long-since-tawdry throne. On the top step outside Hotel Forest hovered a young woman, more a girl than a woman, and more a foreigner which she also was than anything else. The hotel looked out over NDK, the former communist regime s palace of culture, a giant concrete blossom now patrolled by teenagers; sunlight falling across the plaza glinted off their spiky heads. Alexandra Boyd, exhausted from an endless plane ride, stood watching the Bulgarian kids on their skateboards and trying to tuck her long straight hair behind one ear. To her right rose apartment buildings of ochre and gray stucco, as well as more recent glass-and-steel construction and a billboard that showed a woman in a bikini whose breasts surged out toward a bottle of vodka. Stately trees bloomed near the billboard, white and magenta horse chestnuts, which Alexandra had seen during a trip to France in college, her only other time on the European continent. Her eyes were gritty, her scalp grimed with the sweat of travel. She needed to eat, shower, sleep yes, sleep, after the final flight from Amsterdam, that jerking awake every few minutes into self-exile across an ocean. She glanced down at her feet to make sure they were still there. Except for a pair of bright red sneakers, her clothes were simple thin blouse, blue jeans, a sweater tied around her waist so that she felt dowdy next to the tailored skirts and stilettos that made their way past her. On her left wrist, she wore a wide black bracelet; in her ears, spears of obsidian. She gripped the handles of a rolling suitcase and a dark satchel containing a guidebook, a dictionary, extra clothes. Over her shoulder she carried a computer bag and her loose multicolored purse with a notebook and a paperback of Emily Dickinson at the very bottom.
From her plane window, Alexandra had seen a city cradled in mountains and
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flanked by towering apartment buildings like tombstones. Stepping off the plane with her new camera in her hand, she d breathed unfamiliar air coal and diesel and then a gust that smelled of plowed earth. She had walked across the tarmac and onto the airport bus, observed shiny new customs booths and their taciturn officials, the exotic stamp in her passport. Her taxi had looped around the edges of Sofia and into the heart of the city a longer route than necessary, she now suspected brushing past outdoor café tables and lampposts that bore political placards or signs for sex shops. From the taxi window, she d photographed ancient Fords and Opels, new Audis with tinted gangster windows, large slow buses, and trolleys like clanking Megalosauruses that threw sparks from their iron rails. To her amazement, she d seen that the center of the city was paved with yellow cobblestones.
But the driver had somehow misunderstood her request and dropped her here, at Hotel Forest, not at the hostel she d booked weeks earlier. Alexandra hadn t understood the situation, either, until he was gone and she had mounted the steps of the hotel to get a closer look. Now she was alone, more thoroughly than she had ever been in her twenty-six years. In the middle of the city, in the middle of a history about which she had no real idea, among people who went purposefully up and down the steps of the hotel, she stood wondering whether to descend and try to get another taxi. She doubted she could afford the glass and cement monolith that loomed at her back, with its tinted windows, its crow-like clients in dark suits hustling in and out or smoking on the steps. One thing seemed certain: she was in the wrong place.
Alexandra might have stood this way long minutes more, but suddenly the doors slid open just behind her
But the driver had somehow misunderstood her request and dropped her here, at Hotel Forest, not at the hostel she d booked weeks earlier. Alexandra hadn t understood the situation, either, until he was gone and she had mounted the steps of the hotel to get a closer look. Now she was alone, more thoroughly than she had ever been in her twenty-six years. In the middle of the city, in the middle of a history about which she had no real idea, among people who went purposefully up and down the steps of the hotel, she stood wondering whether to descend and try to get another taxi. She doubted she could afford the glass and cement monolith that loomed at her back, with its tinted windows, its crow-like clients in dark suits hustling in and out or smoking on the steps. One thing seemed certain: she was in the wrong place.
Alexandra might have stood this way long minutes more, but suddenly the doors slid open just behind her
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Elizabeth Kostova
Elizabeth Kostova is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Swan Thieves and The Historian. She graduated from Yale and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award for Novel-in-Progress. She is also co-founder of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation for Creative Writing in Bulgaria.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Elizabeth Kostova
- 2018, 512 Seiten, Maße: 13,1 x 20,3 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Penguin Random House
- ISBN-10: 0345527879
- ISBN-13: 9780345527875
- Erscheinungsdatum: 02.03.2018
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
A compelling and complex mystery, strong storytelling, and lyrical writing combine for an engrossing read. Publishers WeeklyIn The Shadow Land, Elizabeth Kostova, a master storyteller, brings vividly to life an unfamiliar country Bulgaria and a painful history that feels particularly relevant now. You won t want to put down this remarkable book. Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs
In this brilliant work, what appears at first a minor mystery quickly becomes emblematic of a whole country s hidden history. Lyrical and compelling, The Shadow Land proves a profound meditation on how evil is inflicted, endured, and, through courage and compassion, defeated. Elizabeth Kostova s third novel clearly establishes her as one of America s finest writers. Ron Rash, author of The Risen
The Shadow Land is thrilling, and not just as a gripping tale. It s also thrilling to watch such a talented writer cast her spell. The central character actually begins this deft novel in an urn, only to emerge as one of the most memorable characters I ve encountered in a long time. Richard Russo, author of Everybody s Fool
Transporting . . . draws us into Bulgarian history and character revelation like an elegant, mysterious labyrinth. Page-turning, evocative, and richly imagined. Dominic Smith, author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
Praise for Elizabeth Kostova s The Historian
Quite extraordinary . . . Kostova is a natural storyteller. . . . She has refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner. San Francisco Chronicle
Hypnotic . . . a thrill ride through history. The Denver Post
Part thriller, part history, part romance . . . Kostova has a keen sense of storytelling and she has a marvelous story to tell. Baltimore Sun
Kostova s vampire is no campy Lugosi knockoff. . . . Blending history and myth, Kostova has fashioned a version
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so fresh that when a stake is finally driven through a heart, it inspires the tragic shock of something happening for the very first time. Newsweek
Praise for The Swan Thieves
Exquisite. The Boston Globe
Engrossing. O: The Oprah Magazine
Stunning . . . A beautifully written tale of art, love and an obsession triggered by both. Associated Press
Praise for The Swan Thieves
Exquisite. The Boston Globe
Engrossing. O: The Oprah Magazine
Stunning . . . A beautifully written tale of art, love and an obsession triggered by both. Associated Press
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