What follows is a journey to so many places within Europe, and discussions about food, local customs, and cultures. Elizabeth Kostova weaves an incredibly layered story of fear, horror, and most of all, history. The images that swirled in my mind as I read this book were eerie, freaky, horrifying. _ Few things also creep me out as the sight of a drawing of thousands of people that Vlad impaled.

In this story, vampires are not sexy young people that are dreamy and moral. _ But this book is about so much more than Dracula. When her father returns, he is resigned and saddened by her discovery, and there begins the unfolding of an adventure to uncover the location of Dracula, Vlad Tepes of Wallachian history, the Impaler. Late one night, the narrator uncovers a book of incredible interest - the pages are blank yet for a woodcut image of a dragon. Her mother is gone from their lives, and her father, Paul, travels on business frequently. The narrator, whose name we never learn, is a young sixteen-year-old girl in 1972, living in Amsterdam with only her father. Written in a mostly epistolary format of letters, its pace is very Victorian-esque - slow-paced at times, and then speeds up with incredible intrigue and page-turning anxiety. This is my second reading of The Historian, and I definitely know it will not be my last. How did the site start? Read it by clicking here, or click the tab at the top of this page.īloggers who commented were (check out their sites!) I hosted The Historian readalong on my other site On the Ledge Readalongs with my FABULOUS co-host Tedious & Brief.

Without a doubt, it is on my list of favorite books. Quite a recap to put together on this subject! And many a shout out and picture to ease enjoy.įew books draw me in as The Historian did, by Elizabeth Kostova.

The historian kostova review