Name: La Historiadora / The Historian
Rating: 3.805687203791469 (211 reviews)
ISBN: 9788495618870

Elizabeth Kostova

Eduardo G. Murillo

La Historiadora / The Historian

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges 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 evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, 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 captivating tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful - and utterly unforgettable.

A Novel

The Historian

A beautiful book that made me never want to put it down. So much history was packing into this book, and it feels as though I’ve looked through a portal into the past. 

Tory Gaudreau

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.

Bella Baxter

If I could have given this book a 3.5, I would have. It was interesting, to say in the least, but for the first 450 pages it was SO. BORING. It was a chore to push through the breadth of historical documents or architecture that I actually didn't care about. I did enjoy the journey the characters took to different countries and the casual interactions they had with one another. But I'm the type of reader that likes the constant suspense and thrill to keep me interested and this book just wasn't it. When I read a book, I'm committed from start to finish, so if I had a DNF shelf, it'd definitely be on it.

This book has forever ruined me for other books. The perfect (and I do not use this word lightly) balance between mystery and history, revealing clues and secrets little by little throughout the whole story. I can't believe I just read 700 pages, and I wasn't bored for a single one of them. 

Silje Løvli Lorentsen

Melissa Palmer

I loved the writing of this book. It was a great gothic read.

I love me a good historian pov. I really enjoyed how the narrative revealed itself starting from the pov of the daughter. 

Florence

The record-breaking phenomenon from Elizabeth Kostova is a celebrated masterpiece that "refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle). Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family’s past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century 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. “Part thriller, part history, part romance...Kostova has a keen sense of storytelling and she has a marvelous tale to tell.” —Baltimore Sun

rumbledethumps

I'm really torn about this one. Overall I really enjoyed it. The story was fascinating, and Kostova kept a lot of balls in the air in order to ultimately deliver it. Her descriptions of setting are outstanding, as is her ability to build some tension in a scene.

However, these two things ultimately collide. Whenever there was mounting tension in the story, descriptions of place and food and people released the tension, which ultimately led to strange pacing  that just didn't feel appropriate to the story. 

Additionally, she isn't particularly good at writing distinct voices, which is especially problematic in that the story is told primarily through three people: the narrator, her father, and the father's mentor. Had I not listened to the audiobook for a lot of it, I would have had difficulty distinguishing the three from each other.

I'll read more from Kostova as this was her debut. I can only hope she figures out a way to bring her gifts for suspense and setting together in a way that serves the story.

Stefanie Viens

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, despite the length and some tedious bits of monologue. I was quite entertained by the way Kostova backed up her Dracula lore with (what appear to be - I didn't double check) historical facts and cultural references. She makes the vampire king quite believable. <spoiler>I was pleasantly surprised during the last third of the book that Dracula was actually a real character, I kept expecting to be told that the narrator and her father had dreamt it all up, or that it was some religious cult operating under the Dracula guise.</spoiler> I felt like the supernatural element was very well integrated and it didn't just seem to appear out of nowhere.

Rachel Kanyid

THIS was SO good. My goodness. I've had it waiting on my "to-read" list for years I feel like and I finally got around to it and boy was it super good! Not usually a fan of vampire/related things, but this was so well crafted!

Jacqueline Jordan 

This book was quite long, but I enjoyed the vast majority of it. The plot was well-crafted and the characters were very realistic.

Christine W

I absolutely loved this, the twists & turns left you wondering what was real and what was fantasy. It was fantasy/ suspense mixed with old world mythos

Charles Siboto

It's Dracula and librarians. You have to love it.

Mary Rose Luksha

At first I was very intrigued by this book. A friend of mine described it as "The Da Vinci Code for smart people," and I enjoyed that book and looked forward to reading this one.

In the beginning, I was not disappointed. There were twists and turns, and I even got a little scared when I would read it late at night.

But the way Kostova finishes the book, it's like...it's like she just wanted to be done with it, and so finished it up as quickly as she could. The end was so anti-climactic that I was incredibly unsatisfied after the slow but engaging build up she created.

While the book is written well, and it is a creative story, and it is incredibly engaging up until the last 100 pages, I feel cheated. I stuck with her, hoping for an insane climax, and I was given droll, boring, coincidences that led to the end of the book.

Spoiler:
If anyone else has read the book, don't you think it a little odd that all of the main characters just happened to see the same book, in the same library, and came to the same conclusion in order to meet simultaneously and save the day? Yeah, ok.

louis

love the book, it is very interesting and has a good plot . it confused me a little because of old names and places which ive never heard but it was still very good

I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I weren't Romanian lol 

Sarah Escorsa

After a very good beginning this book becomes a very tedious read... I'm really quite disappointed here, since I expected much better from this book! Oh well, I should know by now that two many raving critics often mean a big disappointment...

In this internationally bestselling novel, the author of The Swan Thieves has 'refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling...late-night page-turner' - San Francisco Chronicle Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges 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 evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, 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 captivating tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful - and utterly unforgettable. '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 'Filled with fascinating details of archaic vampire lore, the splendours of the Ottoman Empire and the beauty of the Romanian countryside' - Times Literary Supplement

Amy Burnett

This has to be one of my favourite books. Easy to put down and pick up again, the writing is so beautiful and calm and the story is captivating. 

Historian

Maria Brogueira

good book, it takes a bit to actually make you want to read, but suddenly you just want to know the answer to everything!!!! I learned a lot about the History related to the time of Dracula, it was quite interesting

Rucha Phatak

I am in love with this book... I swear on the old blank book with a dragon in the middle that I found on my library desk...

Maria

торжественно освобождаю себя от дочитывания этой книги, промучившись до 80%

La Historiadora / The Historian

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