The Historian

The Historian Date: 14 June, 2005   —   $17.13   —   Book product page Rating:

Review of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

When I read a review of this in Library Journal last month, I knew right away that I had to read this book.  The book is about a string of scholars and their quest to find the secret tomb of Dracula.  The thing in the review that caught my attention was that there was an undead librarian in it!  For a reference librarian whose favorite TV show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer...well, you just couldn't ask for more.

And when I got the book in my hands I was surprised to see that it was huge!  But I tore throught he 656 pages in just a few days, it was that engrossing to me.  The structure of the novel is interesting - it is a story within a story (and in one instance) in a story.  And even though it is complicated it is fascinating and just the right amount of creepy. 

The narrator is a teenage girl who is never named (a la DuMaurier's Rebecca) who is an American living with her diplomat father in Amsterdam in the 1970's.  Her mother is dead, and her father often takes her on trips to sites all over Europe.  But the impetus of the story comes when the girl finds a strange old book and a packet of letters in her father's study.  The book is blank except for the center pages, where there is a woodblock cut print of a dragon with its tail curling, and wings spread.  She begs her father to tell her what it is all about, and he does in increments all over Europe.  His story is unnerving and chilly.  He tells her how the book was planted among his possessions while he was a graduate student on history.  And he tells her of the strange and frightening occurences that happened after he started looking into the book's origin.  His adviser vanished leaving a bloddy office behind, he meets a strange dark haired girl who is also studying Dracula (which means son of the Dragon), and the undead librarian appears with blood read lips, waxy yellow skin, and two wounds on his neck.  The story sweeps through France, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and many other places as they search for the hidden tomb and the dark prince himself. 

While yes, it was a very long book, I never felt it dragging.  It was well-written.  The prose may have been a bit wordy, but it was definitely lyrical in places, and the combination of mood and historical context made this book a bestseller.  I think if you aren't expecting an Anne Rice novel, this book will be a great read.   

Anna M. Nelson

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