Synopses & Reviews
The Bloodletter's Daughter is an original historical novel that traces a story of madness, obsession and love from the glittering court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Prague to a humble bathhouse on the banks of the Vltava River. The year is 1606, the golden age of Prague, cultured and financed by Rudolf II. The Emperor's mad bastard son, Don Julius, scandalizes the cities of Prague and Vienna and is banished to the walled town of Cesky Krumlov in the furthest reaches of Bohemia, and locked in the towering Rozenberk castle. By order of the Emperor, two bloodletters - Royal Physician Mingonius and local Barber-Surgeon Pichler - come to rid Don Julius of the murderous humors that course his veins. But it is Pichler's daughter Marketa ? a simple Bohemian bathmaid ? who captures the frenzied imagination of the lunatic Hapsburg prince. Inspired by a true murder story that shook the Hapsburg Royal Houses of Europe and contributed to the downfall of an emperor, The Bloodletter's Daughter captures the rich historical detail and dark drama of passion and revenge.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
Within the glittering Hapsburg court in Prague lurks a darkness that no one dares mention...
In 1606, the city of Prague shines as a golden mecca of art and culture carefully cultivated by Emperor Rudolf II. But the emperor hides an ugly secret: His bastard son, Don Julius, is afflicted with a madness that pushes the young prince to unspeakable depravity. Desperate to stem his son's growing number of scandals, the emperor exiles Don Julius to a remote corner of Bohemia, where the young man is placed in the care of a bloodletter named Pichler. The bloodletter's task: cure Don Julius of his madness by purging the vicious humors coursing through his veins.
When Pichler brings his daughter Marketa to assist him, she becomes the object of Don Julius's frenzied--and dangerous--obsession. To him, she embodies the women pictured in the Coded Book of Wonder, a priceless manuscript from the imperial library that was his only link to sanity. As the prince descends further into the darkness of his mind, his acts become ever more desperate, as Marketa, both frightened and fascinated, can't stay away.
Inspired by a real-life murder that threatened to topple the powerful Hapsburg dynasty, The Bloodletter's Daughter is a dark and richly detailed saga of passion and revenge.