In Amsterdam in 1972, a teenage girl discovers an ancient book and papers in her father’s office. The pages of the book are empty except for the image of a dragon. She confronts her father, Paul, who reluctantly admits its source. Twenty years ago, his mentor, James Rossi, disappeared. Rossi was known for his fascination with Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula. Rossi believed that Vlad still existed. In an attempt to find his mentor, Paul (with the aid of Rossi’s daughter, Helen) trapses all over Eastern Europe in the hopes of locating Rossi…and Dracula.
The storyline is split into three parts: 1930 when Professor Rossi begins his search for Dracula, 1950 when Paul, Rossi’s “student” takes up the search for his professor, and 1972, which is the main storyline. While this might seem confusing & distracting, the multiple narrators in this audio helped keep the storylines separate and unique.
Told from a series of letters (Kostova honored Bram Stoker’s DRACULA by mimicking the same format) The Historian is a blend of several genres: horror, history & literary fiction. This is one of the few books I can recommend to anyone, for this blend of genres would make this book appealing to a wide audience.
Despite my many attempts, I’m unable to truly put into words just how much I enjoyed this novel. While I read it when it was originally released and enjoyed it, I had the desire to see what it would be like as an audiobook. I am forever thankful I made this decision. This is one of those books that must be listened to, to savor the characters voices, listen to the letters as they are read aloud. The narrators (Joanne Whalley, Dennis Boutsikaris, Rosalyn Landor, Martin Jarvis, Robin Atkin Downes, & Jim Ward) portrayed each of the characters in a completely unique & memorable way.
In order to prevent further gushing, I’ll wrap up this review with this line: I loved it, now go & buy it!
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