What We’re Reading

The Historian | Elizabeth Kostova

Rating:

This book took me a long time to get through. The style is very odd, and hard to follow if you start thinking about it. If you don’t think about it, it moves right along.

This is the story of a father and daughter, both caught up in the legend of Vlad/Dracula. Paul gets introduced via his advisor in Graduate school when they discuss a mysterious book he found with his things one night while studying. It turns out Professor Rossi, the advisor, has one too.

That night, after their talk, Professor Rossi disappears, which leads Paul feeling compelled to find out what’s happened to him. Using the papers Rossi left him, he sets off to the Library to find out anything else he can regarding Vlad Tepes. Much to his surprise and dismay, another student seems to be studying the very same topic. While she seems wholly unapproachable, Paul decides he has to talk to her.

After meeting at a diner and sharing stories it comes to pass that Paul and Helen take off together for Romania, where they hope to glean enough information to form some new leads. From there on out, their paths keep crossing those of just the right people to help them, with a few hurdles along the way of course. And with each new acquaintance, they’re drawn deeper.

Their travels take them from Romania to Hungary to Bulgaria and back. Their discoveries are passed down to us via word-of-mouth, postcards, and letters.

Any vampire fan or Dracula fan should find a lot to like in this book. So long as you’re ready to give it your full attention, it shouldn’t disappoint.

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