Elizabeth Rostova: The Shadow Land

Much looking forward to this. The Historian (her first) was a superb riff on Dracula ,the second The Swan Thieves very disappointing; as I recall she seemed to be trying too hard. This very different but intriguing so far.

June 16th

Well now finished and was superbly powerful. It’s a rich and multi-layered take where the layers all align and enrich each other beautifully. The initial plot device..an American trying to return a box she ( apparently) inadvertently picked up when helping an elderly couple into a taxi grows into a picture of Bulgaria under Communism ?(some scenes redolent of Red Famine...that powerful) a meditation on how humans can survive the almost unimaginable and keep their humanity, the power of music, the coming to terms with loss. All these elements marvellously combined.

Characters and relationships are superbly depicted and while there is a wholly satisfying ending it is not a trite and simplistic ending...and the loss suffered by the main character ( and her carrying of a burden of guilt) is still there although there is a superb parallel between her story and one of the main characters, Stoyan Lazarov. The parallels are left for the ready to draw...a sophisticated idea and one that works very well.

A fine read.