The Bloodletter's Daughter

A Novel of Old Bohemia

By: Linda Lafferty

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

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!

Excellent Author. ...seamless from act to fiction

Amazing. ...traveled to Chesky Kurmlov. I was in awe and so happy I listened to this book twice. I recommend the book, author and narrator.

Interesting read

I had no idea it was somewhat true to history. I found it to be very interesting and fast pace for most of the book.

TMI - Great Research/Poor Editing

This book is set in a period (early 17th century) and place (Bohemia) that is fascinating and has been little used for historical fiction. That combined with good ratings motivated me to give this book a try. The story is based on a true incident of the obsession of the violently insane Don Julius, illegitimate son of King Rudolf II, with a bathmaid, Marketa. In telling the tale, Lafferty also weaves the Renaissance push/pull of culture and folklore vs. science and psuedo-science into the plot and the setting to mostly good effect.

You can quickly tell in listening, that Linda Lafferty has done her homework - most scientists of record and major political figures of the time are all tossed into the book, but there is little or no connection with many of these figures and the actual plot of the story. In fact, Marketa's personal story that drives the plot has little to do with the great events of the time and what tenuous connection the author makes often seems contrived. Lafferty has a whole chapter on Keppler who plays NO ROLE in the plot at all. A man who was a great mathemetician and both an astromer and an atrologer (can you imagine??) is surely a character any author would love, but this was totally off track in the novel. The extraneous characters and world events simply slow the plot, bloat the novel, and break the tension the author wants to create.

However, my greatest aggravation with the book is the characters. They almost have a fairy tale stereotypic quality to them - the loving but passive and ineffectual father, the wicked stepmother (really a mother who acts like a wicked stepmother), the big bad wolf (Don Julius), the virginal and beautiful lower class maiden (Marketa - but think Cinderella), the fairy godmother/good witch Glenda (Anabella), and the dashing young prince (well in this case, he's a doctor). In addition, the dialog is wooden and unnatural. Without exception the characters are lacking complexity and I felt no empathy for any of them. This is a dark story, but when you simply do not care about the characters, any suspense in the novel just evaporates.

Carrington MacDuffie as the narrator was reasonably good. Her voice is a good match for the story and I really liked her delivery in the narrative passages of the book. She's also pretty good at being able to read male dialog without making me wince. Two complaints that would be more editorial and production related rather than a cut on the narrator. 1. Every bit of dialog in this book would have been spoken in a language other than English (mostly Czech or German) so I don't really understand the point in giving all the characters an accent. Especially when the accent used is basically the same for all the characters and lends no nuance to the reading. Just read the English with a normal voice and trust me to understand that these people are in Eastern Europe and don't speak English. 2. Several times within the recording a sentence is repeated - probably when the narrator has taken a break. Not a huge thing, but any time that happens, the listener is pulled out of the story briefly. For what audio books cost, I believe there's no excuse for sloppy production on them.

Sadly, although this book was clearly well researched and I did learn some interesting things about this historical period (both from the book and from having my curiosity picqued enough to look further), the book is just not well written. The prose is flat, the book is badly under edited, and the characters are dull and unmemorable. If you'd like a look at the late Renaissance period from a rather fresh perspective, you might find this book worthwhile, but if you are looking for real great historical fiction, look elsewhere.

Surprisingly different historical fiction offering

Where does The Bloodletter's Daughter rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Historical fiction is my favorite genre. This particular novel is more fiction than history but I would say it still belong in the genre. I have many favorite historical novels and would include this one among them.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Bloodletter's Daughter?

The final chapters are memorable. The plot picks up and you cannot put the book down.

What about Carrington MacDuffie’s performance did you like?

The narrator stayed out of the way of the story. The narration added dimension to the characters but did not distract.

If you could rename The Bloodletter's Daughter, what would you call it?

I would not change the name. The blood letter and his daughter were my favorite characters. Character development was excellent .... The characters' flaws made them very believable.

Any additional comments?

The book is set in Eastern Europe at a time and in a location that have not been exploited by writers of the genre. It is obviously very well researched. The author brings the physical setting to life and incorporates a local legend into the novel. I understand this is the first book for this writer. I hope she keeps on writing.

Loved It!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Bloodletter's Daughter the most enjoyable?

This is a great story - well written and of historical importance. Enjoyed it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The crazy prince was one of my favorite characters as well as the young Marketa.

What about Carrington MacDuffie’s performance did you like?

Great voice and great characters. Really enjoyable

If you could rename The Bloodletter's Daughter, what would you call it?

The crazy price and the young girl