Born in New London, Connecticut in 1964, Elizabeth Johnson moved around a lot with her two younger sisters when she was a child. Her parents taught in universities in New York, Indiana, Tennessee & North Carolina.
She received a BA in English Studies from Yale University in 1988 & a MFA in creative writing from Michigan University, where she currently teaches. After meeting her husband Gyorgi Kostov in Bulgaria, they married in 1990. She has won several writing awards & the film rights for The Historian. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Historian is Elizabeth Kostova's first novel. It was inspired by her father, a professor & Dracula movie fan. After a young girl discovers her father's darkest secret, she embarks on a harrowing journey across Europe to complete the quest he never could - to find history's most legendary fiend, Dracula.
Elizabeth Kostova is a mother of three. She speaks Bulgarian rather well & uses the feminine form of Kostov in her writing.