I've heard good things about this book, and then I saw it on the shelves in the Kathmandu Guest House garden reading-nook when I was there yesterday to drop off a few books. So it came home with me in exchange.

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Book blurb: 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.

(Possible minor spoilers in my review below:)

Read earlier this year--took me a while as I read about 3/4 of it and then it aside. Pushed to finish only to know how it ended and because I'd already read so much of it. (And, again, had heard good things about it. In my opinion the idea for the plot was interesting, but very weak execution. Desperately needs an editor. Literally so many problems with this book. Ugh. Her imagination is good, but execution, writing, not so much. There’s a lot of telling, not showing, and the endless letters border on the unrealistic, as to me, was their traipsing around Eastern Europe, also plot/time continuity flaws galore. Also the dad is a wussy, always shocked and annoyed and impatient, and pretty stupid until he somehow becomes smart at the end. I wonder also what or why the author felt the need to endlessly refer to Helen’s exoticism, how different she was from Western women, etc. Had she been objectified herself and internalized it, or us she a westerner fetishizing the “other.” Would not read more by this writer. (Unless she got a MUCH better editor). Quote from this review “I often felt that The Historian was selling itself as a cross-cultural story written for the tastes of Americans.” oh yeah. https://thebookhabit.co.uk/2019/09/28/review-the-historian-by-elizabeth-kostova/ And that lack of depth!!! another good review, better written than the book? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jul/24/fiction.features

Decided to return this to the place I found it; delighted to see that the bookshelves at the Kathmandu Guest House have grown--a bit tucked away but staff are happy to point you in the right direction!

Happy travels, little book! Let me know where you've been :)