I don't know about you, but if half of what is described about Elizabeth as a child is true, the atrocities she committed are really no surprise. Of course, she had some rather weird adults around her as well. It was a different time, when torture was common place. Ugh.
The story so far has me intrigued...Elizabeth's story. Just wondering where it's going with Drake's story. There is quite a bit of sexual content in this book, which I wasn't really surprised by. Some of the reviews I read mentioned this. I sometimes wonder if it's really necessary. I'm no prude, but still. Ha.
What's interesting is there are not really any definitive biographies of Elizabeth. Tons of fiction. The most prominent one, which has had mixed reviews, is
Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory: Second Editon by Kimberly Craft (originally published 2009, 2nd edition 2014)In Craft's bio, "Craft has spent over a decade researching the life and trial of Countess Báthory and over a year translating original source material into English." I plan on getting this one, but it's pricey. The Kindle edition is $10. I just don't spend that much on Kindle ebooks. The paperback is high as well, so on the wishlist it goes, along with Craft's other non-fiction Bathory book,
The Private Letters of Countess Erzsébet Báthory. This one seems more well-received in the review department. I did check my library for Infamous Lady, and I can get it through MeLCat, but it's not the second edition. I want the most up-to-date information. What do you think about the reading so far?
Share your thoughts on this week's section in the comments, or leave a link to a post. We'll be back next week for the next section. If you need the reading schedule, find it here.
NEWS!
Our first watch-along is going to be Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) It's available on Hulu (if you're subscribed) or Pluto TV, which is a free streaming service. I'm thinking September 24 or 25 (Friday or Saturday) around 9:00 pm eastern time. Let me know which date would work. I created a Discord for Seasons of Reading, so we will chat on there during the watch-along (typing, not video chat). Here's the invite link for our Discord: https://discord.gg/e6uAmXtGqA
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This sounds like an interesting read! It's wild to think about how different things were in those days. The dracula watch sounds fun too!
ReplyDeleteI'm bummed I missed the Dracula watch-a-long. Still probably a week away from getting my desktop back in order.
ReplyDeleteI checked The Blood Countess out from hoopla. I love that they have an interesting on-demand selection, but their ebook format is frustrating: the pagination will change with the width of my browser! But, anyway, I think I'm mostly caught to this point. There is a level of remove between the POVs and the actual story that's making it difficult for me to get into The Blood Countess. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to get too far in! Even in a matter-of-fact tone, some of the events are a lot.
No one showed up so... Maybe another time. Though not sure when I'll squeeze it in now, what with my trip to Salem in October. Sorry your desktop is taking so long!
DeleteI'm almost done with the next section (which I should have posted about on Sunday). I agree that there is quite a disconnect between the POVs. I'll keep soldiering on. There are some pretty gruesome things going on, for sure.