Elizabeth Kostova

Alexandra Boyd viaja a Sofía con la esperanza de que una nueva vida en el extranjero calme el dolor que siente por la pérdida de su hermano. Poco después de llegar a esa hermosa ciudad del este de Eu

A novel that blends past with present in a suspenseful journey that spans three generations and reveals the dark secrets of a family's - and a nation's - history"This book is a train with many cars, the old kind, moving clumsily along a track at night. One car contains a small supply of coal, which spills out into the passageway when an internal door is opened... Another car contains grain, shipped for export. One car is full of musicians and instruments and cheap overnight bags, nearly half an orchestra sitting... in the seats of the second-class compartments. Another car contains bad dreams. The final train car has no seats but instead is full of sleeping men, who lie crushed together on their coats in the dark. The door to that one has been nailed shut from outside..."Thus begins Elizabeth Kostova's spellbinding new novel about a young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, who has travelled to Sofia, Bulgaria, hoping that life abroad will salve the wounds left by the loss of her beloved brother. The year is 2003 and, soon after arriving in this elegant East European city, she helps an elderly couple into a taxi and realises too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers that she is holding an urn filled with human ashes.Setting out on a journey to track down the Lazarov family and reunite them with their precious package, she finds ever more obstacles in her path even as her determination grows greater, and the mystery behind the significance of the urn deepens. Soon she will realize that this object is tied to the very darkest moments in the nation's history, and that the stakes behind seeing it safely returned are higher than she could ever have imagined.Kostova's tale of immense scope delves into the horrors of a century and traverses the culture and landscape of the mysterious country of Bulgaria. Suspenseful and beautifully written, it explores the power of stories, the pull of the past, and the hope and meaning that can sometimes be found in the aftermath of loss.

Soon after arriving in Bulgaria a young American helps an elderly couple into a taxi - and realises too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers an urn filled with human ashes

From the million copy #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Historian, a novel that blends history and the present in a suspenseful journey that spans three generations and reveals the dark secrets of a family's—and a nation's—history.

The highly anticipated new novel by the author of the international bestseller THE HISTORIAN. Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life - solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves.

Qui était vraiment le comte Vlad de Valachie, dit aussi Drakula, le Vampire des Carpates, mort depuis cinq siècles ? C'est la question que se pose, intriguée, une jeune fille en découvrant clans le bureau de son père un vieux livre dont toutes les pages sont blanches, sauf la page centrale, sur laquelle un dragon aux ailes déployées protège entre ses griffes cet unique mot : Drakula. Commence alors, pour son père comme pour elle-même, une enquête périlleuse autour de cette noire figure du passé. Peu à peu, l'ombre maudite se fait plus présente et oppressante autour d'eux. Peu à peu, la quête se transforme en traque, et la vérité se dégage de la légende, plus terrifiante encore.

To you perceptine reader, I begueath my history... Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges 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 evil hidden in the depths of history. 'A spirited update of Bram Stoker's classic, with a vastly ingenious plot in which Dracula has developed a mysterious penchant for librarians … Kostova is a whiz at storytelling and narrative pace' OBSERVER 'Told with a compelling intensity which will keep the reader hooked until the last Undead tomb door swings shut' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Filled with fascinating details of archaic vampire lore, the splendours of the Ottoman Empire and the beauty of the Romanian countryside' TLS 'Obsession, possession, and the struggle against the brevity of life … Kostova captures, beautifully, the turn on a dime from light to dark' THE TIMES

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges 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 evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil.

Propelled by the discovery of an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters, a young woman plunges into a labyrinth where secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries, to the capital of Eastern Europe- in a fear of storytelling so rich, so exciting, so suspebseful that it has entralled readers around the world.

Su nombre despierta terrro en el corazón de los hombre. A lo largo de siglos, se le ha considerado un mito. Ahora, alguien se atreve a buscarlo a través de los rincones más oscuros de Europa y Asia y buceando en lo mas remotos pasajes de la historia.Durante años, Paul fue incapaz de contarle a su hija la verdad sobre la obsesion que ha guiado su vida. Ahora, entre sus papeles, ella descubre una historia que comenzo con la extraña desaparicion del mentor de Paul, el profesor Rossi. Tras las huellas de su querido maestro, Paul recorrio antiguas bibliotecas de Estambul, monasterios en ruinas en Rumania, remotas aldeas en Bulgaria... Cuanto mas se acercaba a Rossi, mas se aproximaba tambien a un misterio que habia aterrorizado incluso a los poderosos sultanes otomanos, y que aun hace temblar a los campesinos de Europa del Este. Un misterio que ha dejado un rastro sangriento en manuscritos, viejos libros y canciones susurradas al oido. Para Paul y su hija llegar al final de la busqueda puede significar un destino mucho peor que la muerte. Porque a cada paso que dan, se convencen mas de que el les esta esperando. Y en sus corazones, retumba una pregunta angustiosa... ¿Es posible que la tumba de Vlad el Emperador esconda algo mas que el cuerpo de un asesino legendario?

"Elizabeth Kostova ha creat de nou una historia magistral." USA TodayEl psiquiatra Andrew Marlow viu dedicat a la seva professió i a la seva afició: la pintura. De sobte, la seva vida solitària i ord

* The International Sensation* In the tradition of THE SECRET HISTORY and THE ALIENIST - a captivating and suspenseful novel that delves into the true history of Count Dracula . . .

The highly anticipated new novel by the author of the international bestseller THe Historian. Kostova´s masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy; from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history´s losses, and the power of art to preserve hope.

Un vespre, ja tard, tafanejant entre els prestatges de la biblioteca del seu pare, una noia troba un estrany llibre antic i unes quantes cartes groguenques. Les cartes van encapçalades per un enigmàtic “Benvolgut i malaurat successor...” que immediatament la capbussen en un món totalment impensable, un laberint on els secrets sobre el passat del seu pare i el misteriós destí de la seva mare queden connectats amb un inconcebible maligne que s’amaga a les profunditats de la història.Generacions d’historiadors han arriscat la seva reputació acadèmica, la seva salut i fins i tot la vida per saber què hi ha de veritat en la figura de Vlad l’Empalador, el sobirà medieval real a partir del bàrbar regnat del qual n’han sorgit les fonts de la llegenda del comte Dràcula. Ara, una dona jove pren el relleu en aquesta difícil recerca. De ciutat en ciutat, en antics monestirs, biblioteques recòndites i arxius clandestins de tot Europa, poc a poc va emergent la terrible veritat sobre l’obscur regnat de Vlad l’Empalador i sobre un temps de pactes que pot ser que hagin mantingut viu aquest terrible món a través dels segles.Història i ficció es donen la mà en aquesta fulgurant novel·la; una aventura de proporcions èpiques i un intrincat relat ple de misteri i suspens que ben segur cridarà l’atenció dels lectors d’èxits tan aclaparadors com El codi da Vinci o L’ombra del vent.

Un vespre, ja tard, tafanejant entre els prestatges de la biblioteca del seu pare, una noia troba un estrany llibre antic i unes quantes cartes groguenques. Les cartes van encapçalades per un enigmatic 'Benvolgut i malaurat successor...' que immediatament la capbussen en un mon totalment impensable, un laberint on els secrets sobre el passat del seu pare i el misterios desti de la seva mare queden connectats amb un inconcebible maligne que samaga a les profunditats de la historia. Generacions dhistoriadors han arriscat la seva reputacio academica, la seva salut i fins i tot la vida per saber que hi ha de veritat en la figura de Vlad lEmpalador, el sobira medieval real a partir del barbar regnat del qual nhan sorgit les fonts de la llegenda del comte Dracula. Ara, una dona jove pren el relleu en aquesta dificil recerca.