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In the 1400s, a medieval feudal lord walked the earth, bringing terror and unholy death. He did it for political reasons—or just for the pleasure of watching someone die. A man so evil they called him Dracula—son of the devil. Some believe he still walks among us today as one of the undead—a vampire.
Our tale begins in the shadow of a castle nestled in the Slovenian Alps. A sixteen-year-old girl, whose mother died when she was a baby, finds in her father’s library mysterious letters—letters that begin with, “My Dear and Unfortunate Successor.” When she asks her father, Paul, about them, he begins the strange story of his search for the tomb of Vlad Tepes and the mysterious fate of her mother.
When Paul’s friend and academic advisor disappears after Paul shows him a strange book—blank except for a center page of a dragon holding a sign with the word Drakula written across it—Paul meets the professor’s daughter, Helen Rossi, and together they begin the search for her father. Both of them suspect that if they find Dracula’s tomb, they’ll find Professor Rossi.
It’s rumored that Vlad the Impaler is buried in Romania at Lake Snagov, but is he? Perhaps his headless body lays somewhere in Istanbul or Budapest. Or maybe he’s not dead at all. Those who dig too deep and get too close disappear—or, worse, become one of the undead.
The Historian is an epic tale, going back and forth in time, filled with fact, myths, legends, and fiction. Ms. Kostova does a remarkable job of blending each of these elements into a fascinating and sometimes chilling story about a historical figure who is shrouded in mystery and the shadows of time. It’s a fact that some in Romania believe in the curse of the vampire, and Vlad Tepes, a much-feared man, might very well be one of the walking dead.
Though the story is written almost like a history book and can be pretty heavy reading for those not used to it, an unsettling hum flows beneath the surface, bringing a sense of impending doom and startling surprises. A book of this length (642 pages) hasn’t kept me this enthralled in a long time. I kept turning the pages, eager to learn of Vlad Tepes’s resting place and to see if he looked as he did over five hundred years ago when he ruled Wallachia in Romania. I had to keep reminding myself there are no such things as vampires and this is a work of fiction.
Most authors only dream of writing a novel of this caliber the first time out—but Ms. Kostova has done it. The Historian is sure to be a classic, placed upon shelves next to Bram Stoker’s Dracula and enjoyed by readers for decades to come.
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