In the vein of riveting historical novels such as Hamnet and Circe--with a touch of Dracula--a 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 is raised as their own. Years later, a young woman called Borka--ignorant of her true history--is sent to join the Countess's household.
Terrified of the Countess's murderous reputation and the brutally cruel women who run the castle, Borka struggles to find her place. Then plague breaches the castle's 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 Borka's loyalties lie?