The Nightingale’s Castle: A Novel of Erzsébet Báthory, the Blood Countess by Sonia Velton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Admittedly, I don’t read a lot of Historical Fiction. When I do, I prefer it to be of the Gothic variety, and luckily, that’s exactly what I found here.
I saw friends enjoying this, so of course, FOMO hit me like a ton of bricks and I wanted to read it ASAP. It wasn’t a hard sell considering I’ll read anything even remotely related to the legend of Erzsébet Báthory!
Legend names Erzsébet Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman, as the most prolific female serial killer of all time. Her likeness and story have been reimagined countless times in fictional media, seemingly getting more bloody and brutal with each retelling.
Sonia Velton put a much different spin on the story of the reputed Blood Countess. I’ve gotta say, I will never think of Báthory the same way again. This was so well done. Incredibly creative and if the Author’s Note is any tell, extremely well researched.
I feel like Velton took great care with this story. I loved how it was developed and all pieced together. The characters were fascinating and the bits at the end containing portions of the trial were uber-compelling.
When Erzsébet was charged with her alleged crimes, four of her servants were accused alongside her as accomplices. In this novel, we meet those people closest to Erzsébet, her inner circle, and find out what life may have been like for them inside the castle walls.
Our main focus is a young girl, Boróka, who is one of the most recent additions to the household. She quickly rises to be one of the Countess’s most trusted companions.
This story builds with us learning about all these key players, as well as the Countess herself. There are some nasty people there. It’s not surprising, once you get to know them, how this ultimately played out. It’s rife with deceit, backstabbing and lies.
Even though this is a bit out of my comfort zone, I did truly appreciate what the author did here. I’m so glad I made time for this story and would absolutely be interested in picking up more from Sonia Velton.
Thank you to the publisher, Harper Perennial, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would definitely recommend this to Historical Fiction and Gothic Fiction Readers, as well as anyone interested in the legend of Erzsébet Báthory.