The Shadow Land
by Kostova, Elizabeth
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0345527860
- ISBN 13
- 9780345527868
- Seller
-
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Ballantine Books. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket. 2017. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. 0345527860 . DJ and boards show very light shelf wear. Remainder mark on bottom page edges. ; A bright, solid book dustjacket in Mylar, unclipped.; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 478 pages; "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 taxiand 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 political oppressionand she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger. Elizabeth Kostovas 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." .
Reviews
On Apr 6 2017, a reader said:
"The photos were mainly black-and-white, some brown or yellowish sepia. Several of the images looked very old; these were wedding groups in stiff clothing with something Eastern about it, young people staring transfixed into futures now long past"
The Shadow Land is the third novel by American author, Elizabeth Kostova. In May, 2008, Alexandra Boyd leaves her North Carolina home and her job as a librarian to take up a teaching position at the Central English Institute in Sofia, Bulgaria. But on her very first day in the country, through a mix-up, she ends up with a bag not her own, one that contains an urn of ashes. Alexandra is distraught at the thought that Stoyan Lazarov's family are heading to the Velin Monastery in Rila without his remains.
Her taxi driver, Asparuh Iliev (just call me Bobby) obligingly returns her to the spot where the unfortunate mishap took place, to no avail. A visit to the Police Station sets them on a path that becomes almost a quest: a quest to see the urn returned to the family. In the process of this far-from-straightforward mission, they learn a great deal about the life of the man whose remains they are carrying with them.
As well as the third person narrative of present day events from Alexandra's perspective, there are some chapters describing her motivation for travelling to Bulgaria. Stoyan Lazarov's story is told to Alexandra and Bobby, both by others, in anecdotes often second- or third-hand, (usually translated by Bobby) and by Stoyan's own account, written as a confession, that details the important milestones in his life from 1940 onwards.
Kostova gives the reader a tale that has it all: mystery, romance, history, politics and corruption, a secret compartment, labour camps, violins and a faithful, heroic dog. All this rendered is gorgeous descriptive prose. The protagonist's quest takes the reader on a tour of Bulgaria while subtly informing about a shocking history not commonly known. Kostova's original plot has several twists that even the most astute reader is unlikely to anticipate. Tension-filled pages build up to a very exciting climax, and several of the multi-faceted characters are not what they at first seem to be.
Kostova's extensive research and her familiarity with Bulgaria, her politics, her history and her customs, are apparent on every page, as is her love for the Bulgarian people and the landscape: "On every horizon Alexandra saw mountains, some of which were blue and very distant, beyond a great plain. Others were closer and rubbed with darkness, like long smudges of soot". This inspirational story demonstrates what one will do to endure. The Shadow Land is intriguing and informative, but also moving and very uplifting. A superlative read.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Ainsworth Books (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 19364
- Title
- The Shadow Land
- Author
- Kostova, Elizabeth
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition; First Printing
- ISBN 10
- 0345527860
- ISBN 13
- 9780345527868
- Publisher
- Ballantine Books
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2017
- Keywords
- 0345527860, sofia, Bulgaria
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Ainsworth Books
Satisfaction guaranteed - if I have made an error in the description, I will refund book and shipping both ways. If the customer just changes his/her mind I will only refund one shipping charge. Please contact me before sending a book back. Any dust jackets on books will have a Mylar protector. Books shipped from US or Canada.
About the Seller
Ainsworth Books
Biblio member since 2003
Chilliwack, British Columbia
About Ainsworth Books
Ainsworth Books was for many years a bricks and mortar store in Vancouver, BC. When we acquired the store, we moved to a location in Delta. After three years we moved the stock home and started operation as an online, by appointment only operation. I have worked with books my whole adult life and enjoy giving recommendations.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Remainder Mark
- Usually an ink marking of some sort which indicates that the book was designated a remainder. In most cases, it can be found on...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.