The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Genre: horror, literature, “classic”
Rating: 4 out of 5 fangs, made on same level of comparison as Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
‘The Historian’ is an absorbing piece of work about the legend of Vlad the Impaler, or more popularly known as ‘Drakulya’ of Wallachia. The story is beautifully told from the perspectives of mainly 3 persons - Prof Rossi, Prof James (Rossi’s tutor) and the daughter of Prof Rossi. It begins with the disappearance of Prof Rossi, leaving behind a mysterior hand-printed books with a wooden cut-out of a dragon and a mysterious letter which begins with ‘To my dearest and most unfortunate successor…’
The protagonist sets out to search for her father, as well as to uncover the mysterious source of the huge envelope of letters, the nature of which was similar to Jonathan Harker’s diary (if you’ve read ‘Dracula’ you’ll understand what I mean). Unknowingly, she also discovers her birthright, and the secrets of her mother, something her father had always kept from her. From the UK, she journeys to the States, to France, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania… following a trail of historical evidence. She is also pursued by the evil ‘forces’ (for lack of a better word) of Dracula. There is a sense of urgency throughout the novel, a pervading feeling of chilliness, and yet, also a captivating sense of discovery as Dracula’s mysteries are revealed in layers.
Certain sections of the book might be a tad too daunting for those who are unable to withstand in-depth discussions of a country’s history. It’s still ok to skim through those few pages, but it might dampen your understanding of the entire story. What might have been best was if Kostova summarised these lengthy discussions into more easily digestible paragraphs. Nevertheless, for the consummate Dracula fans, these discussions might be very exciting and illuminating indeed!
Although this is Kostova’s debut novel, she already shows much power with words, being able to generate such a chilling atmosphere which affects even the most ‘fearless’ readers of horror fiction. It is evident from the detailed descriptions and historical evidence that she had done a tremendous amount of research even before embarking on the novel. As a result, she is able to magically blend fact with fantasy. I hail this book as a remarkable literary achievement, second only to ‘Dracula’.
