Linda Lafferty

The Bloodletter's Daughter: A Novel of Old Bohemia Linda Lafferty

Marc Notes: 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. Publisher Marketing: 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." Review Citations: Booklist 10/01/2012 pg. 39 (EAN 9781612184654, Paperback) Booklist 10/01/2012 pg. 39 (EAN 9781612189291, Open Ebook) Contributor Bio:  Lafferty, Linda Linda Lafferty taught in public education for nearly three decades, in schools from the American School of Madrid to the Boulder Valley schools to the Aspen school district. She completed her PhD in bilingual special education and went on to work in that field, as well as teaching English as a second language and bilingual American history. Horses are Linda s first love, and she rode on the University of Lancaster s riding team for a year in England. As a teenager, her uncle introduced her to the sport of polo, and she played in her first polo tournament when she was seventeen. Linda also loves Siena, Italy, and the people of the region and has returned to the city half a dozen times in the past three years to research her novel. Linda is the author of three previous novels: The Bloodletter s Daughter, The Drowning Guard, and House of Bathory. She lives in Colorado with her husband.