To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign-and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions-and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers-one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful-and utterly unforgettable.
To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign-and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions-and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers-one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful-and utterly unforgettable.
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Find The Historian Elizabeth Kostova in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
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1 books in catalog
Blending meticulous historical research with Gothic mystery and regional folklore, literary fiction that examines academic obsession and cultural heritage found a massive global audience with the publication of The Historian. Author Elizabeth Kostova drew upon European history, archival research, and classic vampire lore to craft an intricate narrative spanning multiple decades and continents. Her debut novel achieved unprecedented commercial success, entering the New York Times Bestseller List at number one and introducing readers to a detailed style of historical suspense.
Born Elizabeth Johnson in New London, Connecticut, in 1964 and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kostova developed an early fascination with storytelling and libraries. Her mother, a librarian, regularly took Kostova and her sisters to the public library, where they were permitted to check out up to 30 books at a time and kept a dedicated shelf for their reading. Her passion for European history and vampire folklore began in 1972, when her family lived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, while her father taught urban planning at a local university. During that year, the family traveled across Europe, an experience Kostova later cited as the formative experience of her childhood. She pursued her higher education at Yale University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1988, before studying Slavonic music and earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. In 1989, she traveled to Bulgaria, arriving just as the communist regime ended, an experience that deepened her ties to Eastern Europe and led to her marrying Gyorgi Kostov in 1990. She later established the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation to support Bulgarian creative writing.
Kostova's prose is characterized by expansive world-building, epistolary techniques, art history, and deep archival investigation. Her narratives frequently feature scholars, artists, and travelers who unravel long-buried secrets through letters, manuscripts, and geographic journeys. Crossing boundaries between historical fiction, psychological study, and thriller traditions, her work emphasizes the lingering impact of past political regimes, fine art, and cultural identity across generations.
1 books in catalog
Blending meticulous historical research with Gothic mystery and regional folklore, literary fiction that examines academic obsession and cultural heritage found a massive global audience with the publication of The Historian. Author Elizabeth Kostova drew upon European history, archival research, and classic vampire lore to craft an intricate narrative spanning multiple decades and continents. Her debut novel achieved unprecedented commercial success, entering the New York Times Bestseller List at number one and introducing readers to a detailed style of historical suspense.
Born Elizabeth Johnson in New London, Connecticut, in 1964 and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kostova developed an early fascination with storytelling and libraries. Her mother, a librarian, regularly took Kostova and her sisters to the public library, where they were permitted to check out up to 30 books at a time and kept a dedicated shelf for their reading. Her passion for European history and vampire folklore began in 1972, when her family lived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, while her father taught urban planning at a local university. During that year, the family traveled across Europe, an experience Kostova later cited as the formative experience of her childhood. She pursued her higher education at Yale University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1988, before studying Slavonic music and earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. In 1989, she traveled to Bulgaria, arriving just as the communist regime ended, an experience that deepened her ties to Eastern Europe and led to her marrying Gyorgi Kostov in 1990. She later established the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation to support Bulgarian creative writing.
Kostova's prose is characterized by expansive world-building, epistolary techniques, art history, and deep archival investigation. Her narratives frequently feature scholars, artists, and travelers who unravel long-buried secrets through letters, manuscripts, and geographic journeys. Crossing boundaries between historical fiction, psychological study, and thriller traditions, her work emphasizes the lingering impact of past political regimes, fine art, and cultural identity across generations.
