First published 2018
Elizabeth Kostova takes readers on a geographic exploration of Eastern Europe through the lens of her novels The Historian and The Shadow Land. This illustrated companion reveals the Bulgarian landscapes, Romanian territories, and Balkan corners that shaped her fiction. Kostova distinguishes between places born from her imagination and locations drawn from actual Eastern European life. The book covers Communist-era Bulgaria, Dracula's Romanian haunts, overlooked regions of Slovenia and Croatia, and underground Istanbul. Kostova provides practical travel guidance for visitors to these areas while explaining how real geography influenced her storytelling. The work serves both as a travel resource and as insight into how an American author transformed one of Europe's most mysterious regions into literary settings.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, travel, geography, adventure, biography-memoir
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: literary-exploration, travelogue
Setting: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Istanbul
Period: Communist-era
256 pages · Hardcover · Free Speech International Foundation