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THE HISTORIAN: A Novel.
by Kostova, Elizabeth
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine in fine dust jacket./fine
- ISBN 10
- 0316011770
- ISBN 13
- 9780316011778
- Seller
-
Ione, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston:: Little Brown,, (2005.). SIGNED hardcover first edition -. Fine in fine dust jacket.. First printing. The author's first novel, an academic thriller, went quickly into many later printings. From the dj: "Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history. The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known - and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula." SIGNED on the title page. x, 642 pp. Map endpapers.
Synopsis
To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign-and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions-and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers-one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful-and utterly unforgettable.
Reviews
On Jan 17 2007, Fict said:
Riding a bit on the coat tails of the Da Vinci Code and awfully similar in theme, but at least much better written with something approaching real-life dialogue.
On Dec 16 2005, Raabe said:
Excellent fictional account of the mystery of Vlad Tepes.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bookfever.com, IOBA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 74410
- Title
- THE HISTORIAN: A Novel.
- Author
- Kostova, Elizabeth
- Format/Binding
- SIGNED hardcover first edition -
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine in fine dust jacket.
- Jacket Condition
- fine
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0316011770
- ISBN 13
- 9780316011778
- Publisher
- Little Brown,
- Place of Publication
- Boston:
- Date Published
- (2005.)
- Keywords
- vampire fiction, dracula, first novel,
- Bookseller catalogs
- Historical Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Bookfever.com, IOBA
Free media mail shipping in US included; priority is $7.50 and international at cost. Books are packed carefully, shipped promptly with delivery confirmation and insurance at our expense. It is important for our customers to be totally satisfied with their purchase and guarantee all of our books to be as described. Want lists welcomed.
About the Seller
Bookfever.com, IOBA
Biblio member since 2003
Ione, California
About Bookfever.com, IOBA
Celebrating our 30th year in business. We started selling books in the CompuServe Book Collecting forum in 1993, a few years before there was any commercial Internet. In 1998 we relocated our main business from Sacramento to the Sierra foothills of Amador County.
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