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.

The Historian

Literature & Fiction

Elizabeth Kostova

Genre Fiction

Little,Brown

When a motherless American girl living in Europe finds a medieval book and a package of letters, all addressed ominously to "My dear and unfortunate successor . . ." she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt that nearly brought her father to ruin and may have claimed the life of history professor Bartholomew Rossi. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler, the historical Dracula, have to do with the 20th Century?

United States

Thorndike Press

The Swan Thieves: A Novel

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

Little. Brown and Company

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

The Swan Thieves

Little,Brown & Co

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 co

The Historian (SIGNED and DATED U.K. Advance Uncorrected Proof)

Contemporary

Back Bay/Little, Brown & Co.

The Shadow Land: A Novel

Ballantine Books

SPHERE

Historian

Little Brown P/B

Title: The Swan Thieves Binding: Paperback Author: ElizabethKostova Publisher: BackBayBooks

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Books by Elizabeth Kostova