Elizabeth Kostova’s debut novel, The Historian, was published in 2005 by Little, Brown and Co. in the United States. Created and crafted in a time span of ten years, The Historian became a bestseller in the first week of its sale. As a child, Kostova’s father told the tales of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler, stories with eerie plots and twisted endings. Inspired by her childhood memories of theses stories, Kostova was presented with a revelation while hiking in the Appalachian Mountains with her husband. She started the novel two days later, dividing it in three parts, each told from a different character’s perspective. The main perspective was from a 16-year-old girl and her professor father who go in search of Vlad’s tomb, though the girl’s name is never mentioned.
One reason for The Historian’s success lies in the hands of Little, Brown and Co. who promoted the novel vigorously, resulting in it becoming the first debut novel to secure a place on the The New York Times bestseller list. It became the “fastest-selling hardback debut novel in U.S. history”. It won the Book Sense award for Best Adult Fiction in 2006 and Kostova acclaimed the title of 2005 Quill Award for Debut Author of the Year. Sony Corporation eventually bought the film rights, but have still yet to film and produce a motion picture.
The Historian faced mixed opinions and both positive and negative criticism. Some say that Kostova’s description of the setting was well done and that the whole book was fresh and had excellent themes. Others say it was too long and lacked “tonal variety”. Selling thousands and thousands of copies to publishers nationwide, it was a big success and good contribution to the world of publication.
