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There are currently 17 member reviews
for The Bloodletter's Daughter
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Naya G. (Amherst, MA)
Poorly Executed/Loosely Historical?
I was surprised at how poorly written this story was - it has an interesting storyline and the potential for intriguing characters. However, the dialogue and descriptions left much to be desired.
I admit that I don't know very much about 17th century Bohemia but even without doing a bit of fact-checking, I got the sense that historical context was not important to the author's version of this story, and yet it is clear that Lafferty had a wealth of details to share. Feeling the need to do a bit of research on my own, I lost any suspension of disbelief I might have had with the story.
The story definitely had potential - Marketa, in particular, was a character I wanted to know more about but at times it seemed as if she acted out of character, especially with relation to her & Don Julius. The characters all felt either over -dramatized or flat. The story overall was much the same.
Clearly a fair bit of research went into this tale but that is part of the problem - we see the research not the characters or a believable narrative.
Lastly, the ending is an unbelievable twist making the whole novel feel like it was only a detailed but poorly written romance, rather than compelling historical fiction.
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Bette C. (Taunton, MA)
The Bloodletter's Daughter
The Bloodletter's Daughter sets the stage with a mad prince and a (not so) simple maid. It has everything you could want in an historical fairy tale, the prince, the maid, a forbidding castle and a situation fraught with all sorts of dangers, both moral and physical. The first several chapters live up to the premise with the introduction of several interesting characters and the plot that moves forward at a brisk pace. Unfortunately somewhere around half-way the book looses its way. The characters behave, well, out of character, the smart one does stupid things, the slightly sinister one does benevolent things, strange scenes that appear to have no bearing on the plot show up and then are never mentioned again, and in general the story square dances around until its hard to keep track of what is going on and who is important to the plot.
I find that I am always more disappointed with a book that starts out strong and really grabs my imagination and then fails to live up to its early promise I always feel the need to find that early promise again when I should just put it down.
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Lori L. (La Porte, IN)
Bohemian Bodice Ripper
For lovers of historical fiction, The Bloodletter's Daughter provides a fascinating glimpse into life in the late 16th early 17th century Bohemia during the reign of the Hapsburg family. Alternating between the melancholy Emperor Rudolf, his mad eldest son Don Julius, and the ambitious brother of the Emperor, soldier Matthias, the author sets the stage for the story of Marketa Pichlerova, the intelligent daughter of the village barber surgeon. Due to her gender and beauty, it is assumed that Marketa will join her mother in business at their bathhouse, providing a good soak and "little something extra" to the local businessmen and travelers. Marketa rebels against this future, yearning to become a physician. I found that her ambition and insight somewhat stretched the bounds of credibility, for example, as she explains to her mother that someday science will explain the mysteries of illness, etc. It is unlikely that girls in her remote village, without the benefit of formal education, and under the sway of the Catholic Church would have much to say about science, let alone expressing views that would challenge the status quo in such a way. A little too much of a "bodice ripper" at times, this book did hold my attention and I wanted to see what happened next. I would give it 3.5 stars.
