Customer Reviews

The Countess: A Novel of Elizabeth Bathory

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm of two minds of this book. This first is that it was excellently written. I loved how accurate she tried to keep the locations, spellings, exc. The story was a great historical novel written from the Countess' own voice which was creepy, yet made a part of me believe what she was selling (about not murdering anyone). The second mind was... I thought there would be more blood? I really was expecting a type of historical horror novel where we witness all the women the Countess has killed and how it was done. Call it morbid fascination but I was looking forward to that.

The Countess of Bathory was accused of killing 612 of her own maidservants. Wow talk about a serious serial killer. It never evens occurs to her that it is considered murder when she beats her maid servants to death. She merely brushes it off as `I had not meant to'. It shows just how insane she had become. The details though are spared as the reader is left wondering sometimes just how twisted these punishments were. Erzsebet was considered the first female serial killer and a `vampire' much like Vlad the Impaled she was said to have bathed in her victims blood. While we aren't 100% certain what happened, Rebecca Johns decides to paint her opposite. Erzsebet is described as a woman trying to make it in a man's world (also Medieval let's not forget times were different then) who just did what was expected of her for her station. Johns shows Erzsebet as a character who was married young to an indifferent husband, widowed and left to survive. I actually at times was empathetic towards her where if I had seen the gore it would have gone the other way.

All in all it was an interesting read. At times it is slow going, but I've found that's how it is with most historical fictions so it shouldn't bother genre fans. While I personally wanted the blood (I'm weird) I was pleased at how Johns made me want to like her, and that was no easy feat.

The blood-red book cover of Rebecca John's The Countess reveals a dangling arm hanging off of a bed (or a tomb?). But this book is not the account of a vampire, and it's not a book filled with gruesome bloodbaths or torture sessions - and that's not a bad thing. If you love historical novels, then you are sure to enjoy the delightfully disturbing rendition of the horrific life that was Erzsebet Bathory, the Countess of Hungary in the late 16th Century. Countess Bathory was accused of killing 612 of her own maidservants before she was walled up in a prison in Csejte Castle for the remaining four years of her life - a fitting end for a horrifically evil woman. Yet Johns crafts a riveting first-person narrative of Bathory as she writes letters to her grandson from jail, claiming that she was innocent, that the accusations were mere politics.

Writing from the perspective of an accused prolific female serial killer of the 16th Century is certainly nothing less than twisted, and Rebecca Johns delivers Bathory's evil story in a way that almost convinces readers of her innocence - almost. With offhand remarks about not understanding the emotional pain of her maidservants or realizing the shallowness of her cruel morality, Johns shocks the audience with a quiet, sinister subtlety that is the fictionalized voice of Bathory.

Fans of historical fiction will admire John's adherence to the original spellings, locations, and events surrounding Countess Bathory's life, and particularly the skillful use of language that Johns employs, giving the narrative an authentic feel. For those that are looking for gory details though - you'll only find a select few instances. This is, after all, the telling from Bathory's perspective, of a woman that believes she has done no harm.

This is a beautifully written book. Rebecca Johns has oodles of talent and the countess of the title is a fully-rounded and fascinating character. You are immediately transported into the late 16th and early 17th centuries.....the language, the sights and sounds and smells, the people....everything rings true. The author doesn't strike a false note and the world she evokes is wonderfully real. Ms. Johns also succeeds in humanizing a woman who has been demonized. Not only can you understand her actions, from her point of view, but at times you can sympathize with her for having to make her way as a woman in a world mostly run by men. But Ms. Johns also lets us see Countess Bathory's faults.....her sadistic streak, her temper and her self-delusion. This character is so real that she truly does emerge, living and breathing, from the pages of the book.

My only complaint is the rather bizarre choice to put in a prologue that tells you right away what is going to happen, so that there is no suspense. If the author were a lesser writer, this decision might make you lose interest or at least reduce your enjoyment of the novel. Be that as it may, even though I knew what was going to happen to the countess I was still caught in the web that Ms. Johns has woven. A remarkable book.

Countess Erzsebet Bathory is such a compelling and notorious historical figure that I was eager to devour Rebecca Johns' "The Countess"--the latest fictionalized interpretation of her story. Bathory has been called a serial killer, a vampire, a witch and some of the more pleasing horror stories have her bathing in the blood of her young female victims to maintain her youthful vigor. But as with many legends, it has been left to history to separate fact from fiction, reality from mythology. Johns, in her well researched tome, takes on the Bathory character in a rather straightforward historical context. In a series of letters recounting her life, "The Countess" presents Bathory in her own voice, making sense of her own circumstances as she awaits death. And the result, while compelling from a historical perspective, is surprisingly bloodless in revealing a true depth of character. Instead of baring the psyche of this fascinating and frustrating figure, we get a rather generic accounting of a life lived.

The novel follows Bathory from childhood to late adulthood when she is walled into a room for her crimes. Along the way, we get glimpses of her family and her loves as the years fly by. Bathory's great life is reduced to pretty descriptions--and anytime we get close to real drama, the story fast forwards or glosses over it. By this account, Bathory's early years were nothing special or distinctive. Seriously, the first half of "The Countess" is a pleasant, but relatively uneventful, journal entry. When she and her arranged husband finally bond after years of distance over how to properly punish a servant, the first real personality of the novel jumps out at you. It's a thrilling scene--alive and disturbing. But then it's gone. As the book progresses, Bathory verbalizes more and more of her jealous and entitled rants--and again, electricity pulses through the pages. But it's just a glimpse, always just a flash to enliven the story momentarily.

I still think that many people will appreciate "The Countess" on its own merits, but I worry that the marketing strategy will actually prove to be an ultimate disservice. The novel's cover art suggests a creepy horror vibe that has nothing to do with the book. And the press geared toward fans of gothic thrillers isn't really on target either. "The Countess" fits squarely in the genre of historical fiction! It is both interesting and well written, clearly Johns has talent. My biggest complaint, again, is that it brings no new insight to Erzsebet Bathory as a woman. It presents a great view of the political climate that led to Bathory's demise, but it doesn't let you know Bathory. I wanted to love "The Countess," I really did. I certainly admired Johns' effort but the overall experience was vaguely disappointing and unenlightening. KGHarris, 9/10.

I rather enjoyed Rebecca Johns second novel, the Countess, for its historical accuracy and thoughtful approach to understanding Erzsebet Bathory's life. The novel is told from the point of view of the fifty-year-old countess writing to her twelve-year-old son, Pal, from her walled-in chamber (she had been condemned to perpetual solitary confinement without trial for her role in the deaths of dozens, if not hundreds, of servant girls in her employ).

The novel is a page-turner, but not sensationalistic. Ms. Johns has take Tony Thorne's superlative 1997 biogaphy "Countess Dracula: The Life and Times of Elisabeth Bathory, The Blood Countess" and derived a carefully thought-out, psychologically sound fictional account of the Countess.

Throughout the centuries since Erzsebet's death, she has stood out as an enigma, "the world's first female and most prolific serial killer". She apparently had a privileged upbringing and was married to the most eligible bachelor of her day. Ms. Johns speculates about the nature of their relationship and the effect it had on Erzsebet's psyche and temperament later on (although it doesn't quite explain the exoneration of her late husband by her accused servants who were put to death) when she finds herself advancing in age as her power and influence decline.

I picked up Rebecca Johns' latest tome expecting the blood and gore that all others have used when writing about Elizabeth Bathory and her "house of horrors." I was pleasantly surprised from the first page by the new perspective Ms. Johns takes, as she immediately grabs the reader's attention and never lets go.

The reader is taken on a journey into the psyche of a madwoman as she explains and rationalizes the horrors that she is accused of. In the telling, Ms. Johns takes the reader inside the character and completely humanizes her. Much like with "Dexter," the audience ends up cheering for the villain in this book. You feel her fear and discomfort at being betrothed to an unknown Count; you feel her anguish at not being able to conceive; you feel her anger and betrayal when her husband's affections move away from her to her maidens; you feel her humiliation when she is passed over for a younger woman by the palatine. From start to finish, you'll find yourself actually rooting for the heroine, even knowing the atrocities that she's accused of. Some of these atrocities you'll even forgive her for.

A wonderful read with just enough history, just enough romance, just enough gore to please any reader. After closing the book and reading about the legends that have followed Elizabeth Bathory through the centuries, I am inclined to start again.

This book was excellently written. Rebecca Johns did a wonderful job with Countess Erzsebet Bathory. I found myself feeling sorry for her and her plight of being accused of crueltly to her help, even though she was indeed very cruel.

It is amazing how marriages were arranged and girls VERY young were sent off to be a part of someone else's family, even if you weren't really a match. The Countess did what she had to go she thought to keep her household running.

The descriptions in the book of the countryside, people and events are exquisite. I felt like I was riding with her in that carriage to her new home and so many other times. Lots of romance, betrayal, family betrayals and loyalties will be tried in this book. You will be cheering for one side or the other by the end.. What side will it be?

This book is wonderful because it makes you want to read other books about The Countess and many others, at least I do now!

Rebecca Johns I knew was a writer to watch for when I read Icebergs, but she really did well with this one! Bravo Ms Johns!!

I found the author's device, letters from the protagonist recounting her life, to be wonderfully effective in conveying the slow descent into madness that is the subject of this book. I agree with the reviewers who note this is not really a horror novel, despite the subject matter and the marketing, it's more a well-done yet grim work of historical fiction.

Rebecca Johns has pulled off a true narrative feat in this beautifully written, haunting story of 16th century Hungary: she has created in her imagining of Ersebet Bathory a character who is sympathetic (if not always likable) even as she grows increasingly paranoid and violent.

As other readers have mentioned, the descriptions of the landscape, clothing, food, and other aspects of life among the nobility in the book's setting and era are vivid and engrossing. But it was the complex and nuanced portrait that Johns drew of the Countess, and the voice she gave her, that were the most satisfying part of this all-around satisfying read.

Okay, first this isn't a scary horror novel. In fact it's not scary at all. What it is is a great story! You have the basics of what it's about on the Amazon info. The entire book is written as the Countess' letters to her son while she is locked away in a cold stone tower forever until her death. So for the time she spends there she writes about her life starting from childhood & all the way up to & including all of her time while jailed away. She isn't simply locked behind a door, they build a wall & leave her a slot for food. She has nothing.

Her life story is fascinating. It is hard to say if she is the criminal she is made out to be or a victim of circumstance. Yes, she did some bad things, but even she says it is no less than was expected of a person of her standing. No, this doesn't include murder. Her point is servants get punished & back then punishment was different than now. Well, everything was different really.

Anyway, I really loved reading this. I read it quickly & looked forward to any chance I had to dive into her tale.
I have no idea if it is historically correct or anything like that. Personally, I don't care, it is sold as fiction & it made a great story.