Mystery Play
novel · First published 2026
Author guide
Elizabeth Kostova Books in Order
Elizabeth Kostova is an American novelist born in Connecticut in 1964. She holds a B.A. in British Studies from Yale College and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Michigan, where she received Hopwood Awards for fiction and nonfiction. Her novels frequently combine history, literary mystery, Eastern European settings, and supernatural or gothic elements. She is the author of The Historian, The Swan Thieves, The Shadow Land, and Mystery Play, and is co-founder of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, which supports Bulgarian writers, translators, and cultural exchange.
historical fictiongothic fictionliterary fictionmysterythrillersupernatural fiction
Catalog record updated .
Elizabeth Kostova's Newest Book
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The Historian
The Historian is Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel and earliest published standalone work.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (4)
- The Historian
novel · 2005
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…
- The Swan Thieves
novel · 2010
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow…
- The Shadow Land
novel · 2017
"From the #1 bestselling author of The Historian comes an engrossing novel that spans the past and the present--and unearths the dark secrets of Bulgaria, a beautiful and haunted country. A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has…
- Mystery Play
novel · 2026
Frequently asked questions about Elizabeth Kostova
Who is Elizabeth Kostova?
Elizabeth Kostova is an American novelist born in Connecticut in 1964. Her debut novel became the first debut novel in U.S. publishing history to open at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Is Elizabeth Kostova Bulgarian or American?
She is American, but Bulgaria has been a major cultural and literary influence on her life and work. Kostova has said that visiting Bulgaria for the first time in 1989 made her want to set a book there someday.
Sources: elizabethkostova.com (opens in a new tab)elizabethkostova.com (opens in a new tab)
What inspired Elizabeth Kostova's writing?
Her interest in Dracula grew from stories her father told her during childhood. She has also described beginning with a Dracula novel and discovering that she was writing a story about love across the Iron Curtain.
Sources: encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)elizabethkostova.com (opens in a new tab)
What awards has Elizabeth Kostova won?
The Historian won the Quill Award and an Independent Bookseller Award. Kostova has also received a Bulgarian Ministry of Culture Award and a Lois Roth Foundation Citizen's Award for Cultural Diplomacy.
What is Elizabeth Kostova's legacy beyond her novels?
Kostova is co-founder of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, which supports Bulgarian writers and translators and promotes literary exchange with English-speaking audiences. Bulgaria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes the foundation as a partner in translating and publishing Bulgarian literature abroad.
Sources: elizabethkostova.com (opens in a new tab)mfa.bg (opens in a new tab)