Staff Picks: The Bloodletter's Daughter

The Bloodletter's Daughter: A Novel of Old Bohemia
by Linda Lafferty
2012

I've long been a fan of the novel which expands upon people and events from history, giving them a bit more grit and common substance than any history lesson ever could. A good deal of research went in to Lafferty's crafting, including visits to the Czech village where the novel takes place. The author rendered her characters and settings and the events surrounding them frankly, taking pains to be honest, but still allowing them to resound with believable emotion and imagination of a time long past. Despite the graphic nature of the story, I'd venture to say this novel will gain a wide range of readers. This is due in no small part to her thoughtful insight into and careful development of her characters, real people from history. Lafferty created a head-strong and admirable heroine, not without her faults. Likewise, any author who can evoke sympathy from a reader for a character who is a psychopathic murderer rapist, friends and neighbors, this is an author to read.

Set in Cesky Krumlov, a small village in Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic), in the early 1600s during the reign of the Hapsburg dynasty, The Bloodletter's Daughter is an atmospheric and lovingly rendered account of the tragic events and remarkable characters surrounding the blatant mistreatment of a sick and troubled soul.

Erin
Assistant Children's Librarian
Martinsburg Public Library

CALL NUMBER: FIC Laff.L