The Bloodletter's Daughter

A Novel of Old Bohemia

By: Linda Lafferty

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

In 1606, the grand city of Prague hides an ugly secret: the emperor’s bastard son, Don Julius, is afflicted with a madness that pushes the prince to unspeakable depravity. Banished to a remote corner of Bohemia, Don Julius comes under the care of a bloodletter who works to purge the vicious humors coursing through the young royal’s veins. When the prince meets the bloodletter’s daughter Marketa, his madness sparks a frenzied - and dangerous - obsession. He believes Marketa embodies the women from the Coded Book of Wonder, a priceless manuscript from the imperial library that was the young prince’s only link to sanity. As the prince descends further into the darkness of his mind, his acts become ever more desperate, and Marketa, both frightened and fascinated, can’t stay away.

Inspired by a true murder that rocked the Hapsburg dynasty, The Bloodletter’s Daughter is a dark and richly detailed saga of passion and revenge.

©2012 Trish McCallan (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Not for the lighthearted

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes, some of the characters seem to have psychic abilities and there is a hint of a supernatural story line. I would expand on these areas more.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I thought it ended as it should. I made the mistake of getting curious about the real life events in the story and read about them half way through the book. It totally ruined the second half of the book for me. Read the story and then if you are curious read the history afterwards-it's not exactly the same anyway.

How could the performance have been better?

There are some editing problems with the narration and some of the voices seem off. Having said that, these items do not significantly impair the story.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for a brooding romance where a misunderstood prince is rescued by the love of a coy maiden this is not your story. The historical backdrop is fascinating but there are some very sad and shocking parts to this story.

Entertaining

I found this book to be enjoyable and most of the time easy to follow and believable.

historical fiction, were does it start and end. gi

memorizing. loved the AHa moment ,I had. at the end. Brilliantly written and read. leaves me wanting more .Felt I was in the now and present.

LOVED this book

Any historical fiction that is so interesting I have to go look up what really happened is good historical fiction. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I loved the main character, hated her, then loved her again. Other characters also invoked strong emotion as well. The reader did an excellent job also!

Good story!

It took a little to get used to the Dracula-like voices of the performer, but after a while that didn't bother me so much. The story is well crafted and rich in historic detail. Worth a listen and read!