A Paperback Original

In the vein of riveting historical novels such asHamnetandCircewith a touch ofDraculaa propulsive, feminist reimagining of the story of Erzsbet Bthory, the infamous sixteenth-century Hungarian aristocrat known as the Blood Countess, who was rumored to have murdered hundreds of peasant girls and bathed in their blood.

In 1573, Countess Erzsbet Bthory gives birth to an illegitimate child. Secretly taken to a peasant family living in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, the infant girl israised as their own. Years later, a young woman called Borkaignorant of her true historyis sent to join the Countesss household.

Terrified of the Countesss murderous reputation and the brutally cruel women who run the castle, Borka struggles to find her place. Then plague breaches the castles walls, and a tentative bond unexpectedly forms between the girl and the Countess. But powerful forces are moving against the great lady whose wealth and independence threatens the king. Can the Countess trust the women seemingly so close to her? And when the show trial begins against the infamous Blood Countess where will Borkas loyalties lie?