What do readers think of The Bloodletter's Daughter by Linda Lafferty? Write your own review.

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.

The title The Bloodletter's Daughter and appropriate cover art immediately intrigued me, however, the backcover blurb promised so much that was undelivered. Prologues are usually ignored by readers. Readers want to cut to the chase, at least this reader does. Chapter one lacked the hook of a great opening. Stability plus inciting incident equals instability, followed by a struggle to resolve instability, and return to stability. That is the currently accepted literary standard for opening scenes. Today, that first introduction of the stability of the protagonist's world may be as short as two sentences. In chapter one, Lafferty's generalized weather report and endless backstory about a (literally) dirty old man playing with himself while ogling a naked teenage bathhouse girl is not my idea of an inciting incident and really put me off. Had I not agreed to review this book, I would have put it down here. Although Linda Lafferty is obviously talented I can not in good conscience recommend this book.

Lafferty's story suffers from inflating. Too much is not always a good thing. About 1/3 of the way through I began skimming. Too bad, because a more tightly constructed story could have made this a fascinating tale.