![A survivor from the Belene forced-labour camp of Communist-era Bulgaria looks at photos of those who died, at a 2009 exhibition in Sofia. AFP](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/5TOZ67X62J54JMYCNT6HSJ552E.jpg?smart=true&auth=23ca7b4f39887765b0a7a1dc38be2aecc708f287fc1efefeca6a113e00204a00&width=400&height=225)
A survivor from the Belene forced-labour camp of Communist-era Bulgaria looks at photos of those who died, at a 2009 exhibition in Sofia. AFP
A survivor from the Belene forced-labour camp of Communist-era Bulgaria looks at photos of those who died, at a 2009 exhibition in Sofia. AFP
The Shadow Land author Elizabeth Kostova on the role Bulgaria plays in her writing
The novelist tells us about how her love of Bulgaria inspired a dark journey to unearth the painful secrets of its Communist past
James Kidd
October 17, 2017