She stands out as the second most famous vampiric historical personage after Vad “the Impaler” Dracula. The real life Elizabeth Bathory was a noble woman of high birth who was married to count Nadasy. The count was one of the brave nobles who defended Hungary from the brutal depravatities of the Ottoman Turks. After he died she inherited everything and she also became obsessed with holding on to her youth. To ensure her youth she resorted to killing young beautiful girls and women and then bathe in their blood. Eventually the bodies piled up and they caught on to her.
This story is speculative fiction, the authoress, Kimberly Kraft has written two other books on Elizabeth Bathory. She has the knowledge to pull it. What follows is years after she died her son searches out a servant who worked with the family for years to discern if the rumors were true or not. Benedict Deseo is a perfect source of information. Both Elizabeth and herself were infatuated with one another when she first arrived at the estate. What could have boiled up into an intense love affair is put to an abrupt stop but Benedict’s father . The affair would have been a disaster. Their love thwarted Benedict observes the day to day events from the side line. He relates the story of Elizabeth’s first transgression that would have aborted the marriage but there was too much money involved to break the engagement. Then there is the husbands cruel and degrading treatment of her. The husband beat servants mercilessly. Elizabeth might have picked that up from him. Then an older woman is hired as a servant and she teaches Elizabeth the art of besting servants. Benedict was forced into watching. It is her way of getting even for him standing her up when she first got there. She did not know his father beat him half to death for liking her.
The book was face paced and a very enjoyable read, I read it in one day and plan on getting the rest of Kimberly Craft’s books on Elizabeth Bathory.
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