Posted on goodreads and facebook on February 7, 2017.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I have not read "The Historian", which seems to be Kostova's most acclaimed previous work, but I have read "The Swan Thieves", which I loved. This novel follows the same structure of a present(ish) day uncovering of a historical story, which makes sense of the present(ish) day mystery. Alexandra, an American, arrives in Sofia to teach English, and is taken by the airport taxi driver to the wrong hotel. She joins the taxi line to get another taxi to her hostel and helps the people in front of her to get into their taxi. In doing so, she inadvertently keeps one of their bags. This turns out to contains an urn with human remains. In her endeavours to return the urn to its rightful owners, she and her new taxi driver/sidekick Bobby run into threats and danger as they find out more about the life of the person who has been cremated.

Initially I found this novel intriguing (and I learnt things about Bulgaria during WW II), but it turned into an endless road trip during which Alexandra seemed to wear the same clothes and she and Bobby surely drove the length and breadth of Bulgaria without ever needing to refuel. Then there was the sheer unlikelihood of Bobby being the taxi driver she happened to get, Alexandra and Bobby feeling it was reasonable to undertake the whole quest, the dog turning out to have belonged to Stoyan etc etc. I skimmed the sections about Stoyan in the labour camps - I don't read novels about people suffering cruelly at the hands of others. The ending scene at the quarry was a high point for me - things did not turn out exactly as it seemed they might (in a good way).

Bobby's character was great, but as for the others... Alexandra only seemed to have a personality in relation to her lost brother Jack (that never really went anywhere - what was that about?), Stoyan I rather disliked. I had hoped Bobby might turn out not to be gay after all and for there to be an Alexandra/Bobby romance, but instead there was that ambiguous ending with Neven, who was surely old enough to be her father.

Disappointing and very long.

If you are expecting another "Historian", set aside your expectations. This is better.

Past and present storyline takes place mainly in Bulgaria. I found the past storyline much more interesting than the present. Descriptions of Bulgarian countryside as well as life during WWII were fascinating. I did not care for the end.

The latest release from Elizabeth Kostova starts a bit slow but by the end I was glad I had stuck with it. Alexandra arrives in Bulgaria from the US ready to do a bit of traveling before she starts her new job teaching English in Sofia. When the taxi from the airport drops her at what turns out to be the wrong hotel, she takes a moment to try and decide how she's going to get to hers when she sees an older man traveling with an elderly couple. After Alexandra lends the man and couple a hand getting into their taxi she realizes she has accidentally held onto one of their bags. When she opens the bag she finds a box containing human ashes with a name carved into it.

Alexandra's attempts to find the couple and return the ashes take the reader on a journey across Bulgaria. We see Bulgaria's major cities, but also its countryside and smaller villages. The reader also delves into the regions past from pre WW II, to the communist years and it's aftermath. Along the way she also meets some people both good and bad that help build the tension and mystery that make this a book to recommend.

The Shadow Land is a beautifully written story. Some books are page turners that you can burn through in a day and others take forever to finish because they aren't compelling enough. I found myself reading this book at a slower rate than I usually do - not due to any deficiency in the book - rather I was feeling that I had taken enough in for one sitting. (The difference between consuming a lot of junk food but still feeling hungry versus a small nutritious meal leaving you satisfied.)
For me there were so many themes of interest... Although I'm old enough to remember the Cold War and the Iron Curtain - and I clearly recall the fall of the Communist block - I haven't really encountered much literature about life in Eastern Europe from 1944 - 2000. (Given the hundreds of WW2 stories from Western Europe I've read over the years, I'm kind of embarrassed by the oversight!) 
The characters are each dealing with forms of quite intense grief - it's not that there's a tonne of psychoanalysis going on - but there's a believable connection and empathy between the protagonists that adds depth to the story. 
The book does wind up pretty fast after keeping a steady pace for most of the story - but that's a minor structural concern in the context of a thought provoking read that I could connect to on a number of levels.

Try as I may I was unable to get into this book. The characters were hard to relate to, I waited for all the threads of the book to join up, but it didn't. I

I'm very sorry but I can't read this book.  The text is too dim, and as this is a PDF file, I can't make it bigger on my Kobo.   Again, I'm very sorry.

thank you.                                                                                                                                                                 
enjoyed it,                                                                                                                                      
will get copies for family and friends.

"The Shadow Land" was both not what I expected from the author of "The Historian" and exactly what I should have expected. Kostova returns to Eastern Europe and employs her memorable lush language to tell a story of terror and tragedy of Communist Bulgaria - and against that backdrop, a story of a young woman seeking atonement. 

The narrative grabbed me from the beginning, both the minutely familiar surroundings (I was born and raised in Communist Poland) and the intriguing chance encounter that jump starts Alexandra's adventures. I was astounded at just how realistically Kostova was able to paint a picture of a post-Communist country. I've never been to Bulgaria, but aside from some geographical differences, I might have just as well been reading about Poland, down to the "more beautiful women", too! The clash of the leftover Communist ugliness and drabness with the incoming Capitalist modernity, progress and new bourgeois ostentation - is stark - but does not dim the country's and its people's natural beauty, simplicity and truth. I was captivated by every word throughout those passages.

As Alexandra is falling in love with Bulgaria and its people, she learns of the country's tragedy and horror, too. Her quest to return the misplaced urn allows her to repent and forgive herself for a perceived wrongdoing in her past. The slow pace of this discovery can be frustrating to most readers, and as the narrative turned to frequent flashbacks, it started frustrating me, too. The suspense wasn't strong enough - the mystery not so mysterious - to maintain my original breathless pace of reading. 

In the end there is no big reveal, just a quiet conclusion. While it might be tonally appropriate for the story the novel told, it adds to an overall disappointment with how the book turns out in the end. Some will love it for its slow lush trek through history, country and forgiveness. Others will miss the suspense and mysticism of "The Historian". Personally, despite the disappointing denouement, this book will stay with me for a while.

I loved this book. I am a big fan of Kostova, The Historian being one of my favorite books. The Shadow Land was an excellent read.  As always, Kostova gives a peak into a little known bit of Slavic history/mystery. The story was well plotted and kept me guessing. I liked the characters and found them to be believable. This is one I'll be pushing to my book club and library patrons

When reading a book by Elizabeth Kostova you have to prepare yourself for an emotional journey and have time blocked off to do nothing but finish her book!

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't finish it.   Many insignificant things were described in too much detail and the plotting was very slow. The book was a real chore to get through.

From the very first page, a clever premise draws you in and "The Shadow Land" had me hooked. Subtle, clever, and with characters that you don't want to leave, this is a complex and intriguing read. 

It's a slow burn ... but you have to keep turning the pages because you care about the protagonist, Alexandra, as much as she cares about returning property that she inadvertently picked up – an urn of ashes.

The horror prison camp life story woven into the thread of this book was surprising and powerful. It highlighted to me the struggles of past generations who faced the challenges of war, depression and discrimination, that many of the post-war generations have never known. 

A refreshing, intellectual read, with great characters and a snapshot into different cultures past and present, for readers who seek depth in their reading journey.

The book's setting in Bulgaria was a new place for me.  I learned a LOT about the history of the country through the protagonists' travels.  The switching of narrators and flashbacks was not distracting, I wish there were more from Stoyan's point of view.  Also, more Bobby's backstory/personal history would have added another layer of characterization that was missing yet needed.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed at times that the author was force-feeding/inventing sexual tension between Alexandra and Bobby, who is gay?
The novel plodded in the middle, I think the story would have been tighter if a couple of the stops were left out.  The denouement was predictable, over in about 3 pages, and too "tied up with a bow."  The book read like it was written for a movie adaptation.  I won't be surprised to see the <trade> paperback movie tie-in edition a year from now.

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 political 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. 

Does not disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ebook copy of The Shadow Land By: Elizabeth Kostova in exchange for an honest review. 

I was very excited to read The Shadow Land since I loved The Historian by this author so much. The Historian is one of my favorite novels, but this one did not do it for me. The writing in this one killed me from about page two. I feel like unimportant things are described in too much detail. The writing droned on and on. I felt like I had been reading forever and I wasn't very far in. To be honest, I only made it to 5% and I had to quit. Wow.
#INeverDNFThisEarly

Overall The Shadow Land is a pretty disappointing read for me and I'm sad I had to DNF so early on. This book to me did not feel like the same writing that I loved in The Historian. Not everyone can be Tolkien and not every book needs that level of description. I couldn't get into this one at all so I figure why keep going if I already really dislike it?  
#SecondDNFOf2017

I can't personally recommend this one, but if the blurb sounds good and you can handle long winded descriptions then maybe you'll like this one more than I did. 
#HighlyRecommendTheHistorianThough

What on earth is going on with Elizabeth Kostova? The Historian is one of my most favourite books. This is not! It is beautifully written as are all Kostova's books but after her debut things have most definitely been rocky, this was better than the Swan Thieves- marginally I might add! Maybe she has suffered peaking too soon in her career but this book despite; its writing being beautiful with great flow, was very diffficult to get through and I did have to read it in bursts! A disappointment to me!

I really wanted to love this book more than I did. I loved the Historian and perhaps my expectations were too high because of that fact.  The writing is lush and gorgeous but the plot was threadbare and the pacing so slow I just could not remain interested.

I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did.  I just couldn't buy into the mystery and the idea of Alexandra driving all around a country that she never been with a cab driver that she just met to try and find someone that she does not know.

The description's of the country was beautiful and kept me going.