book review: The Historian

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

I picked up this novel in a sale and put it aside to read during a recent break from the real world. Waiting the few weeks between point-of-sale and point-of-reading was nearly painful, but worth the torture. I sat up in bed the first night of my retreat from life and dived right in. Not having read the back-cover blurb since the book store, I’d forgotten what the story was about and by the time I turned the lights off was thinking perhaps I should read it during daylight hours. If you’re at all squeamish about scary stories [like I am, in particular when there are no traffic sounds, it’s pitch black outside except for silver-misted trees, it’s breezy and branches are scratching on the window] you might want to take that into consideration. If not, have at it!

The first couple of chapters of The Historian were a little heavy going and at times confusing. I put this down to the fact that the narrator was a historian telling us a story about other historians and a lot of historic research. Don’t panic. This is all necessary and, just as it was worth the wait to read, it is also worth the effort to get through the necessary backstory. Especially as all the stories intertwine to make a great adventure and produce a gripping end.

I learnt a lot about history, researching facts and legends, and about Dracula, and was drawn right into a world where Dracula just might be, not only real, but still living. Yes, I know that there was an historic Dracula – Vlad the Impaler – but The Historian brought him right out of history and into the 21st century. I was scared, but riveted and, in a similar way after reading The Da Vinci Code, wanted to rush out and scour old bookstores, libraries, archives and museums.

I was also fascinated by Ms. Kostova’s description of regions and countries that I have rarely thought about, let alone visited, and I must say a heartfelt thanks for dragging me off to the combined nether regions of Europe and history.

Elizabeth Kostova is a wonderful storyteller and I was ready to believe most of what she showed me in The Historian. Being the cynic deep down inside though, I did find it hard to come to terms with such a young girl travelling the world in search of her father. I suspect it’s the “mother of teenagers” in me. Vlad was fully believable. That also could be the whole mother thing coming out.

I recommend obtaining a copy of The Historian, finding yourself a nice cosy corner and indulge in a few hours of adventurous historical fiction... no matter what time of day or night you prefer.

old beginnings and new research

I was going to title this post New Beginnings, but really, my current project is not new at all but a continuation of an old project.

With one novel just starting the rounds of publishers, I'm working on getting my next more finished than what it was. That is, it sat "finished" at 30,000 words. Not enough, but I couldn't think what else to do with it. Giving it a break of a year [or so] and having talked to the Creative Director at Varuna House, I've decided to get it back out, dive into some more research and get it really finished. I'm also thinking that I need a better title but that will come later.

So, the one doing the rounds is set in New Mexico/Colorado with forays into other areas [such as Ancient Mesopotamia... naturally] and is very much an adventure story with a hero-type, sidekicks and, of course, a quest that will save the world. There's also some magic thrown in, a murder or two and a good dose of hurt/comfort.

The novel I'm working on now is set only in New Mexico [what can I say, I really like New Mexico] but in two different timezones. Time/story 1 is around the time of the Desert Archaic or BasketMaker peoples and time/story 2 is in the late 1870s. Both stories deal with monsters of their time and the defeat of the monsters. There is a connection between the two stories, of course, but not a direct one.

I find that digging deep with research [which translates as lots and lots of reading - my favourite activity] helps me with a few aspects of writing. The first is that it puts me in the mood to write generally and specifically, and gives me new ideas and paths to consider. My reading is as widespread as I can make it from internet articles, museum & information centre pages [see my article on location research], blogposts and books [non-fiction and fiction]. I also listen to music and look at pictures. Doing these last two help with movement [of story and characters] and description. For instance, if I show a character is feeling the deep resonance of drums from inside out, I draw that from listening to drums myself and putting into words what I feel when I do.

Active research [such as listening/dancing to music] is an important tool for the writer and includes contacting other people for more information including direct experiences as well as detailed knowledge. Not everyone a writer contacts is going to be an "expert" in a specific field - that is, university professors etc. Of equal importance are the ordinary people with similar interests who like to talk about what they know, think and feel. A writer can learn a lot from casual conversation whether it be real life, via e-mail or through blog commenting and discussion boards.

I also try and find some short courses/seminars to attend that cover the area I'm researching. Not only are these a good source for professional information but the other people attending are great for the all-important casual conversation. I usually spend the "lecture" time scribbling down notes from the instructor as well as ideas and details I want to remember for my stories. I try to follow a similar pattern when I go to museums and art galleries and, as there's no instructor to listen to, ask questions of the curator or attendents.

Right now, I'm trying to find somewhere that I can experience Native American drumming live. That's not easy in Sydney, Australia but I'm sure I heard of someone running workshops in this area a few years ago. I'm also combing blogs and other websites looking for tidbits on BasketMaker culture [if you've got any you want to share, don't be shy and let me know]. My favourite blog to visit at the moment is Mark Hinton's Chaco Canyon site. He has some really great images of Chaco and other areas plus maps and an interesting [and easy to read] travelogue of his trips.

A great place to go for pictures is the Wild West Art Gallery right here in Sydney. It's great because it's only 10 minutes down the road from where I live and they have quite a good collection of prints including Bana, Terpning, Doolittle & McCarthy and books from Civil War topics to Native American, Cowboys & Trappers as well as beautiful art books. Drop in to their website - they import from America so whatever they have you can certainly obtain the same in the States.

My next novel is set a little closer to home so maybe I'll post my own "travelogue" of research and pictures... just as soon as I drag myself away from New Mexico that is.

[image: Chaco Canyon 2005]