I read The Historian by Kostova and loved that book, so it was easy to pick up her third book, The Shadow Land. I was not disappointed! This is a book what happened under the Communist regime in Bulgaria immediately after WWII. This is a very difficult but little known period of history, which Kostova brings to light with in-depth research, an interesting plot line and characters that are very engaging.

Alexandra Boyd has traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria to be an English teacher. That is the stated reason for her moving to another country but the real reason is that after her beloved brother died, she just needed to get away from all the memories- to get some distance so she could heal. But less than 24 hours after she arrives, she finds that after helping an elderly couple into their taxi, she inadvertently kept one of their bags. Hoping to find some clue as to who the elderly couple is or where they are going, she opens the bag and finds an ornately carved box with the name Stoyan Lazarov, and containing what appears to be human ashes.

Alexandra is now on a mission to return the bag but in order to do that she must figure out who Stoyan Lazarov was and to then find his family. With Bobbi, a young taxi driver, as her guide, Alexandra  criss crosses modern day Bulgaria while retracing the history of the Communist regime and the Lazarov family. Soon Alexandra begins to realize that not everyone is happy to have someone from the outside uncovering these secrets, and that she must hurry to find the answers before it is too late.

Kostova bring this difficult period to life by using different voices as Alexandra interviews different people who have known the Lazarov family. The story comes together slowly with disparate voices telling different aspects of what happened while her attention to detail and history creates a sense of authenticity. Although the ending seemed a bit abrupt, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which gave me more insight into an another part of the world and a difficult period in history.

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Martin, Sharon, Keith and Ken.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in e-library format.