I just finished THE HISTORIAN by first time novelist Elizabeth Kostova -- a popular book that received a monumental push because of the historical fiction craze hitting America about a year ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I don't think it's a book for everyone. In fact, I probably would have not thought that it was really a book for me until I got into it.
The book is 650 pages long and has very little conversation, which can make any book longer. It is almost all "long winded" letters and the retelling of stories found in books or from the past.
Ends of chapters often end in a climax of "Let's get to the library!" so that the lead characters can read the latest history they found to further their efforts.
Their efforts? Find out of Dracula is ... in fact... real.
I am not going to tell you what the final conclusion is, but the book does a masterful, if not too masterful, job of describing exotic locations and buildings... all in the name of advancing the latest historical discoveries.
The plot is so simple that it makes you wonder how you can get 650 pages out of it.
In the 20's, 50's, and 70's, the story follows the stories of three sets/generations of historians that build upon the discoveries of their counterparts to determine the existence of Dracula. There is love and fascinating characters and someone even gets bitten.
It's really pretty good...I swear it is... I just can't really explain just how good.
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MORE STEVE MARTIN REVIEWS PLEASE
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