Amara Borbala is certain she is the only living person in the sane world with intimate knowledge concerning the life and exploits of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory. After all, she was Elizabeth s companion and confidant since her eleventh year. In 1573, after the death of her mother, Amara is sent by her cousin to serve as a lady-in-waiting at the castles of Sarvar, Varanno, and Cachtice. Now it is years later, 1628, and Amara is aging, alone, and reduced to eavesdropping at her favorite café around the corner from her townhouse in Vienna. Befuddled by gossiping ladies, Amara determines perhaps it is time to finally put a stop to the rumors and once and for all, answer the question, Is it true? Did Elizabeth Bathory, a descendant of Vlad Tepes really commit the horrible acts of torture, bathe in the blood of slaughtered virgins, and dabble in the dark magic that she was accused of during her trial? One thing is certain, Amara knows the truth, but will it be enough to explain the habits of her friend? Dandelions In The Garden is book one in a two-part series that begins with the journey of Amara, an impressionable girl who follows the Blood Countess through all the horrid events that lead to her rise and secure her place in history.
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"The tale has a vicious bite, and the characters remain in place - to watch if you will die." --Brown Brush Books
An intriguing and fresh historical fiction novel chronicling the life of the infamous mass murderer known throughout history as the Blood Countess. The Countess Elizabeth Bathory is a descendant of Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as, the Impaler and most notable for being the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. However, I believe it was his ancestor, Elizabeth Bathory, who should get much of the credit for the character's dark immortality. It was she was rumored to have bathed in and drank the blood of virgins in an attempt to preserve her eternal beauty. --Goodreads
An intriguing and fresh historical fiction novel chronicling the life of the infamous mass murderer known throughout history as the Blood Countess. The Countess Elizabeth Bathory is a descendant of Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as, the Impaler and most notable for being the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. However, I believe it was his ancestor, Elizabeth Bathory, who should get much of the credit for the character's dark immortality. It was she was rumored to have bathed in and drank the blood of virgins in an attempt to preserve her eternal beauty. --Goodreads
From the Author
As of March 4, 2011 an updated version of Dandelions in the Garden is available and all orders will be filled with the newly released edition. The original text has been re-released with brand new cover art, author note, sneak peek at the sequel, and proofed by Editor, Robert Helle. I'm very excited about the improvements and hope readers will continue to enjoy my stories.
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More About the Author
The author writes and has published three novels under the nom de plume, Charlie Courtland. She graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in English Literature with an emphasis on Creative Writing, and a minor in Criminology. She was born in Michigan and currently resides in the Seattle area with her husband and two children.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some interesting moments, but overall: disappointing,
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This review is from: Dandelions In The Garden (Kindle Edition)
I found this book while researching the infamous Countess Erszebet Bathory. Buyer beware - there are no vampires. Although the novel had some generally interesting fictional moments with the main character Amara & her love affairs, it was wholly dissatisfying that the book, while focusing on the Countess' incredible historical story, was narrated in the first person by Amara, not Countess Bathory. Even more frustrating, key moments are left out of the Countess' life, and all her unspeakable acts are explained away as the warranted actions of a noble woman.
I hate to harshly criticize a newly published writer, as I know how difficult the writing process can be. However, there were also glaring grammatical and logical errors: 1) The book is narrated in present-tense (something that drives me up a wall), and the tense shifts from past to present incorrectly - a glaring mistake that took me out of the fiction. 2) Perspective is skewed. Amara, the narrator, writes down an important scene where, if she heard it, she should have known what was coming. And if she didn't hear it, then how is she writing it in the book? But then she proceeds to not know what's happening. It's very strange. How could the first person narrator have heard this conversation & then not see the result coming down the pipeline beforehand? 3) There was a lack of plot and climax within this first book (supposedly a sequel is coming). I felt wholly dissatisfied at the end. 4) The editor of this book did not do his/her job. Errors were everywhere, and confusing leaps in plot made it difficult to follow at times. 5)I feel like the book didn't reflect history well enough. It's also hard that if you know how history went for Countess Bathory, you know how this book ends. I thought there was a nice possibility to leave people hanging with respect to Amara's romances, but the author let's you know what happens at the beginning of the book - this steels a lot of the suspense from the novel. For the pros of this book, I must say: 1) The characters are well sketched, and Amara and Elizabeth (Erszebet) are appealing people. 2) The love scenes and intrigues are really well written. 3) The way Elizabeth is portrayed as a vibrant, defiant, and strong woman is truly fascinating. Overall, I've read worse, but still think this book could have been much improved with a better editor.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was She Really Evil?,
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This review is from: Dandelions In The Garden (Paperback)
When I first started reading this novel, my first thought was, "This doesn't feel like the 1600s." And it didn't. The narrator, Amara has a very modern way of thinking and speaking, and I found myself wondering if they really had tabloids and chiming clocks that far back. Once the story went back to the late 1500s however, I became so engrossed in two little girls growing up together and experiencing their first loves, first kisses, first broken hearts, and first forrays into rebellion that I completely forgot about possible lack of historical authenticity and just sat back and enjoyed a very good story.
Amara and Elizabeth grow up together rather neglected and have little to no experience with the world outside their domain. They have a governess and pretty much run free and get into trouble. And what kind of trouble do most teenage girls get into? They fall in love. The problem is Elizebeth is not just any ordinary teenage girl, but the countess of Bathory and her marriage to a Count has been arranged. Despite her attempts, she is unable to avoid marrying the "harry ogre" and try she does! Elizabeth has shown a fiery side even before her wedding day and on her wedding night, she finds a new power within herself: the power to get her way. There is no stopping her from that point on. Is Elizabeth evil? She does some bad things, but I wouldn't say she is evil.. not in this take on her life. She simply DOES what we all THINK about, but don't have the courage to do. When servants gossip behind her back, she not only stops it, but ensures it doesn't happen again. Is she sexually promiscuous? Yes, but she desires to CHOOSE her lovers, not bed the man other's chose for her. And honestly, there isn't a woman in this world that doesn't desire to kill the woman that steals her man... The book is mostly about Amara tho. Amara is a delightful narrator, full of charm and wit. Amara experiences spurned love of her own while growing up in the Countess's shadow. However, when a knight named Draco enters the picture, she has a chance at happiness. BUT, throwing daggers at fence posts and declaring that it is his head is NOT the way to a man's heart! LOL I have two minor quibbles. 1. Upon first marrying Francis, Elizabeth's main goal in life was to keep him out of her bed. It obviously happened sometime tho and as perverted as everyone is going to think I am, I wanted to know when that came about. She made so much ado about it... so what made her finally give in? Towards the end of the novel, I said, "What?? When did she give up that fight? Did I accidentally miss a paragraph somewhere?" (And NO, I did not skip or skim.) 2. There is a fabulous and exciting rescue scene involving both Elizabeth and Amara dressing up as Turks. For some reason, this was told by the "modern" day Amara, rather than being part of the real story. I would have liked to EXPERIENCE this scene more. Neither of those two quibbles prevented me from thoroughly enjoying this novel tho. I could not put it down. I was absolutely delighted with it and laughed and smiled throughout the entire reading of it. I am very much looking forward to the sequel.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Twist On A Difficult Subject For A Fictional Biography,
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This review is from: Dandelions In The Garden (Paperback)
I just finished "Dandelions In The Garden" by Charlie Courtland, the pen name of Kelly Elizabeth Lee. I was apprehensive about purchasing this book because I have read nearly everything related to Countess Bathory written in English (historical and fictional) and was worried that a new author would have nothing new to say. I was pleasantly pleased that Ms. Courtland did her homework and that many of the characters in the book are realistically based on historical facts.
The novel (Part One of a two-part series) is told from the point of view of an entirely fictional Amara Borbala, a lady-in-waiting to thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Bathory from the age of eleven in 1573 through present-day 1628. Amara decides to tell the story of Elizabeth to John Drugeth, the nineteen-year-old son of Elizabeth's daughter Kate and son-in-law George Homannay Drugeth before his impending marriage. Elizabeth's infidelity while engaged to her husband, her subsequent marriage, and numerous affairs are explored in an effort to possibly explain her behavior later on. Ms. Courtland's theories explain Elizabeth's mistreatment of servant girls better than the standard blood-bathing/sadomasochistic obsession that most authors accept at face value. The novel ends in 1585, shortly after the birth of Elizabeth's daughter, Anna, and Elizabeth's discovery of the portrait of a certain Wallachian Prince from the previous century who may be related to the Countess. The only criticism I have is in the editing. There are numerous spelling and grammatical errors that should have been corrected and hopefully will be in subsequent editions. I'm afraid that independent publishing companies depend on computers to be editors and phrases like "Elizabeth and I" are assumed to always be correct when it should read "Elizabeth and me" half of the time. I still look forward to volume 2.
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