{"id":20449,"date":"2024-09-07T01:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/?p=20449"},"modified":"2024-09-19T00:52:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T04:52:45","slug":"book-the-bloodletters-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-the-bloodletters-daughter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bloodletter&#8217;s Daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"book-3069\" class=\"bdb-book-info\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_thebloodlettersdaughter.png?fit=250%2C374&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The Bloodletter&#039;s Daughter\" class=\"alignright\"\/><strong>Title:<\/strong> The Bloodletter's Daughter<br \/><strong>Author:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/author\/linda-lafferty\/\">Linda Lafferty<\/a><br \/><strong>First Published:<\/strong> <span content=\"2012-09-04\">September 4, 2012<\/span><br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/publisher\/lake-union\/\">Lake Union<\/a><br \/><strong>Pages:<\/strong> 513<br \/><strong>Genre:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/genre\/historical-fiction\/\">Historical Fiction<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/genre\/suspense\/\">Suspense<\/a><br \/><strong>Format:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/format\/ebook\/\">Ebook<\/a><br \/><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/source\/prime-reading\/\">Prime Reading<\/a><br \/><strong>Rating:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/rating\/1.5\/\"><span class=\"bdb-font-awesome-star-wrap\"><i class=\"fas fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fas fa-star-half-alt\"><\/i><i class=\"far fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"far fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"far fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/15096257-the-bloodletter-s-daughter\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addtogoodreads.png?ssl=1\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a><br \/><br \/><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong> <p>Within the glittering Hapsburg court in Prague lurks a darkness of which no one dares speak\u2026<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s 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\u2019s task: cure Don Julius of his madness by purging the vicious humors coursing through his veins.<\/p>\n<p>When Pichler brings his daughter Marketa to assist him, she becomes the object of Don Julius\u2019s frenzied\u2014and dangerous\u2014obsession. To him, she is the embodiment of the women pictured in the Coded Book of Wonder, a priceless manuscript from the imperial library that was the mad prince\u2019s 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\u2019t stay away.<\/p>\n<p>Inspired by a real-life murder that threatened to topple the powerful Hapsburg dynasty, The Bloodletter\u2019s Daughter is a dark and richly detailed saga of passion and revenge.<\/p>\n<strong>Get the Book:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4eS6avV\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon<\/a>\r\n<hr \/><\/div>\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\/\",\n\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Review\",\n\t\t\t\t\"datePublished\": \"2024-09-07T05:00:05+00:00\",\n\t\t\t\t\"description\": \"The Bloodletter's Daughter\",\n\t\t\t\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Radical Dreamer\"\t\t\t\t},\n\t\t\t\t\"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/book-the-bloodletters-daughter\\\/\",\n\t\t\t\t\"itemReviewed\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Book\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"The Bloodletter's Daughter\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"author\": [\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Linda Lafferty\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/book-database\\\/author\\\/linda-lafferty\\\/\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t],\n\t\t\t\t\t\"isbn\": \"\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"numberOfPages\": 513,\n\t\t\t\t\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Lake Union\"\t\t\t\t\t},\n\t\t\t\t\t\"image\": \"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/book_thebloodlettersdaughter.png?fit=250%2C374&ssl=1\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"datePublished\": \"2012-09-04T00:00:00+00:00\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.goodreads.com\\\/book\\\/show\\\/15096257-the-bloodletter-s-daughter\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"genre\": \"Historical Fiction\"\t\t\t\t},\n\t\t\t\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Jamie\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/\"\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t, \"reviewRating\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Rating\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"ratingValue\": 1.5,\n\t\t\t\t\t\"bestRating\": 5\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<h2>Review<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The Bloodletter&#8217;s Daughter<\/strong> shines a light on a tragic piece of Bohemian history, that of the mad bastard son of Rudolph II and a bath maiden, <a href=\"https:\/\/castle.ckrumlov.cz\/en\/zamek_oinf_dojuda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Don Julius D&#8217;Austria and Mark\u00e9ta Pichlerov\u00e1<\/a>. It&#8217;s a scandal that deserves to be retold as a cautionary tale, and the idea of giving voice to the voiceless is a noble one\u2014but this novel missed the mark.<\/p>\n<p>I honestly feel that this story could&#8217;ve been better if it was an entirely fictional story and not based on real people. Some artistic liberty is required, sure, when it comes to stories about historical figures with no personal accounts, but the purification of Mark\u00e9ta from concubine to virginal woman of science is disingenuous and overly romantic. The afterword makes it clear that Lafferty did not like how Mark\u00e9ta has been remembered throughout history \u2013 with particular disdain for the nickname \u2018musle.\u2019 Lafferty warps Mark\u00e9ta into the most perfectly modern Mary Sue: virtuous, naive, clever, desired by seemingly everyone, with great skill in medicine \u2013 something that was forbidden of women in that time period.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_20453\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20453\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_thebloodlettersdaughter-page.png?resize=400%2C230&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"230\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_thebloodlettersdaughter-page.png?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_thebloodlettersdaughter-page.png?resize=300%2C173&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20453\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Voynich Script, Nymphs in Niches<\/figcaption><\/figure>This contrasts drastically with her role as both a bath maid and Don Julius\u2019 bed mate. She isn\u2019t even depicted as the latter in the book. Mark\u00e9ta never assisted in Don Julius\u2019 bloodletting, and she very likely never came into contact with half the historical figures that she does. There is little evidence of the Prince\u2019s obsession with \u201cthe Coded Book of Wonder,\u201d the Voynich Manuscript.<\/p>\n<p>This book was overly long and bloated with unimportant side characters and historical events that had no bearing on the story. While the story had it\u2019s moments where it was suspenseful and my interested was piqued, there were so many times that I just didn\u2019t care, and I seriously considered dropping the book. I was willing to forgive some of the issues with the telling until the deeply offensive epilogue, which the story would have been infinitely better without. I was shocked at the misandry on display, as a male character is raped for the sake of romantic drama and used as a plot device to pave the way for a half-baked polyamorous ending. This alone destroyed my opinion of the author and the book and I\u2019m quite frankly disappointed.<\/p>\n<p>This novel had so much potential, but it was bogged down with historical inaccuracies and melodrama, and ended up being a weak attempt to do justice for Mark\u00e9ta by rewriting her story through an inspiring feminist lens. Worst of all, this is the only book I could find about Mark\u00e9ta Pichlerov\u00e1, a tragedy in itself.<\/p>\n<h2>Quote<\/h2>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Men who <strong>thirst<\/strong> for <em>freedom<\/em> will find it, even if they drink at a <strong>poisoned well<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<h2>Content Warnings<\/h2>\n<span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\">Abuse, Assault, Child Abuse, False Imprisonment, Intimate Partner Violence, Misandry, Misogyny, Rape, Physical Assault, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Violence <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<h2>About the Author<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ubb-about-author\">\n<h3>About Linda Lafferty<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_lindalafferty.png?fit=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft ubb-about-author-photo\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_lindalafferty.png?w=200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_lindalafferty.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The daughter of a naval commander, Linda Lafferty attended fourteen different schools growing up, ultimately graduating from the University of Colorado with a master&#8217;s degree and a PhD in education. Her peripatetic childhood nourished a lifelong love of travel, and she studied abroad in England, France, Mexico, and Spain. Her uncle introduced her to the sport of polo when she was just ten years old, and she enjoys playing to this day. She also competed on the Lancaster University Riding Team in England in stadium jumping, cross country, and dressage. A veteran school educator, she is the author of The Bloodletter&#8217;s Daughter and The Drowning Guard. She lives in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ubb-author-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LindaLaffs\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/6210132.Linda_Lafferty\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Goodreads<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/47Vq32R\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Review The Bloodletter&#8217;s Daughter shines a light on a tragic piece of Bohemian history, that of the mad bastard son of Rudolph II and a bath maiden, Don Julius D&#8217;Austria&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[70,4352,4351,4349,4347,4350,287],"book-author":[4346],"book-illustrator":[],"book-series":[],"book-publisher":[],"book-genre":[],"book-source":[],"book-format":[],"class_list":["post-20449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","tag-american-literature","tag-i-can-change-them","tag-mary-sue","tag-set-in-the-1600s","tag-set-in-the-czech-republic","tag-white-lady","tag-witches","book-author-linda-lafferty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_thebloodlettersdaughter-header.png?fit=1080%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20449"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20813,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20449\/revisions\/20813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-author?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-illustrator?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-series?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-publisher?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-genre?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-source?post=20449"},{"taxonomy":"book-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-format?post=20449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}