The Shadow Land

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From the 1 bestselling author of The Historian comes an engrossing novel that spans the past and the present and unearths the dark secrets of Bulgaria, a beautiful and 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 oppression and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger 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. Best Download [ The Shadow Land ] Author [ Elizabeth Kostova ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I really liked this novel, the characters had depth and I got to learn a lot because I didn t know much about Bulgaria The pacing was good too and I honestly did not know where the story was leading which was nice because I hate reading mysteries and knowing ten pages in what s going to happen That said I found it kind of awkward the way point of view kept switching, not just from person to person but from first person to third as well It interrupted the flow and was not needed Also the way I really liked this novel, the characters had depth and I got to learn a lot because I didn t know much about Bulgaria The pacing was good too and I honestly did not know where the story was leading which was nice because I hate reading mysteries and kno...A land that looked nearly untouched by history, a Grimms fairy tale setting in Alexandra s eyes And here s where your own eyes come into favor with an Elizabeth Kostova novel Bring with you an openness that views life, not only in the here and now, but in times past Our modern vision tends to view most things from a slanted perspective As if such atrocities never exist...Alexandra Boyd has travelled from America to Sofia, Bulgaria s capital city She chose Bulgaria largely due to her brother s fascination with the area in a geographical game they used to play as children Since Jack is no longer able to make this dream a reality Alexandra has gone in his stead, arranging a teaching post to augment her scant resources Shortly after her arrival at the wrong hotel in Sofia, she reaches out to prevent an older woman from a near fall and in her efforts then to as Alexandra Boyd has travelled from America to Sofia, Bulgaria s capital city She chose Bulgaria largely due to her brother s fascination with the area in a geographical game they used to play as children Since Jack is no longer able to make this dream a reality Alexandra has gone in his stead, arranging a teaching post to augment her scant resources Shortly after her arrival at the wrong hotel in Sofia, she reaches out to prevent an older woman from a near fall and in her efforts then to assist the lady and her travelling companions, she inadvertently ends up in possession of one of their bags The bag contains an urn of human remains and Alexandra is understandably distressed by her accidental misappropriation of such a personal item She resolves im...There are a number of things that I liked about this book and some that didn t work so well for me, leaving me with a rating of 3 stars and an extra half star for the dead man whose ashes and life become the focus of the novel I found myself very engaged in Alexandra s story initially The back and forth in time giving us a view of her past, how she came to Bulgaria and the deep loss she feels about losing her brother Jack, was very moving I was engaged in the search she embarks on with Bobby There are a number of things that I liked about this book and some that didn t work so well for me, leaving me with a rating of 3 stars and an extra half star for the dead man whose ashes and life become the focus of the novel I found myself very engaged in Alexandra s story initially The back and forth in time giving us a view of her past, how she came to Bulgaria and the deep loss she feels about losing her brother Jack, was very moving I was engaged in the search she embarks on with Bobby, a taxi driver she connects with, to return a bag with the ashes of a man named Stoyan Lazarov, that she mistakenly comes to have in her possession I loved the descriptions of the places in Bulgaria where they traveled and learning a bit of this countr...Almost from the beginning I found the story problematic, the storyline that leads to the books true purpose struck me as unbelievable If you visited a foreign country, didn t know the language, stopped to help someone, and found you mistakenly had come to posses the ashes of someone who belongs to the people you helped, would you travel around the country trying to return said ashes Would you get into a cab, the driver a young man you do not know, and travel back and forth across the country, Almost from the beginning I found the story problematic, the storyline that leads to the books true purpose struck me as unbelievable If you visited a foreign country, didn t know the language, stopped to help someone, and found you mistakenly had come to posses the ashes of someone who belongs to the people you helped, would you travel around the country trying to return said ashes Would you get...Barely 3 stars The Shadow Land felt like two books One of them was heart wrenching but really good The other one was long, meandering, pointless and implausible Alexandra travels from the US to Bulgaria to teach English and get away from some sadness in her life at home Immediately upon arriving in Bulgaria, she has a chance encounter with a Bulgarian family that leads to a luggage mix up, and she ends up with a bag containing an urn with human ashes The rest of the book consists of a long Barely 3 stars The Shadow Land felt like two books One of them was h...4.5 Stars This book is a train with many cars, the old kind, moving clumsily along a track at night One car contains a small supply of coal, which splits out into the passageway when an internal door is opened You have to step over piles of slippery black grit to get through the corridor Another car contains grain, shipped for export One car is full of musicians and inst...Alexandra s brother disappears on a family hike when he is 16 and she s 14 As a twenty six year old, she travels to Sophia, Bulgaria because it was her brother s desire to have traveled there She has no sooner arrived that she accidentally picks up a suitcase that contains someone s ashes And so it begins This is a beautifully written, wonderfully detailed book Kostova paints a picture with each chapter so that you can visually picture everything happening You feel as much the outsider as Alexandra s brother disappears on a family hike when he is 16 and she s 14 As a twenty six year old, she travels to Sophia, Bulgaria because it was her brother s desire to have traveled there She has no sooner arrived that she accidentally picks up a suitcase that contains someone s ashes A...This novel is by Elizabeth Kostova, who is, of course, best known for her wonderful novel, The Historian As such, if you are looking forof the same, you may well be disappointed by this novel, which would be a shame This is a very different book, but it contains much that is very special indeed and is as you would expect beautifully written.The story begins with a young American woman named Alexandra Boyd, who has travelled to Sofia in Bulgaria, in order to teach and to recover fro This novel is by Elizabeth Kostova, who is, of course, best known for her wonderful novel, The Histo...The language in this book is beautiful, mesmerising and detailed If you wish to get lost in the wonder of Bulgaria, then this is the closest you ll get to the experience of being there without actually going It made me want to pack bag and head off into the unknown, to feel that sense of trepidation and excitement that only happens when you go to a place you ve never been before and don t speak the langu...

The Shadow Land
  • English
  • 19 May 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 478 pages
  • 0345527860
  • Elizabeth Kostova
  • The Shadow Land