Download or read book The Countess written by Rebecca Johns and published by Crown. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was the “Blood Countess” history’s first and perhaps worst female serial killer? Or did her accusers create a violent fiction in order to remove this beautiful, intelligent, ambitious foe from the male-dominated world of Hungarian politics? In 1611, Countess Erzsébet Báthory, a powerful Hungarian noblewoman, stood helpless as masons walled her inside her castle tower, dooming her to spend her final years in solitary confinement. Her crime: the gruesome murders of dozens of female servants, mostly young girls tortured to death for displeasing their ruthless mistress. Her opponents painted her as a bloodthirsty škrata—a witch—a portrayal that would expand to grotesque proportions through the centuries. In this riveting dramatization of Erzsébet Báthory’s life, the countess tells her story in her own words, writing to her only son—a final reckoning from his mother in an attempt to reveal the truth behind her downfall. Countess Báthory describes her upbringing in one of the most powerful noble houses in Hungary, recounting in loving detail her devotion to her parents and siblings as well as the heartbreak of losing her father at a young age. She soon discovers the price of being a woman in sixteenth-century Hungary as her mother arranges her marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy, a union made with the cold calculation of a financial transaction. Young Erzsébet knows she has no choice but to accept this marriage even as she laments its loveless nature and ultimately turns to the illicit affections of another man. Seemingly resigned to a marriage of convenience and a life of surreptitious pleasure, the countess surprises even herself as she ignites a marital spark with Ferenc through the most unromantic of acts: the violent punishment of an insolent female servant. The event shows Ferenc that his wife is no trophy but a strong, determined woman more than capable of managing their vast estates during Ferenc’s extensive military campaigns against the Turks. Her naked assertion of power accomplishes what her famed beauty could not: capturing the love of her husband. The countess embraces this new role of loving wife and mother, doing everything she can to expand her husband’s power and secure her family’s future. But a darker side surfaces as Countess Báthory’s demand for virtue, obedience, and, above all, respect from her servants takes a sinister turn. What emerges is not only a disturbing, unflinching portrait of the deeds that gave Báthory the moniker “Blood Countess,” but an intimate look at the woman who became a monster.
Download or read book The Countess written by Catherine Coulter and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1999-10-01 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catherine Coulter's revamped first novel—a gothic regency romance. The #1 New York Times bestselling author's very first novel, rewritten as a Gothic. A woman who makes the wrong choice for a husband may not live to marry the man of her dreams...
Download or read book The Black Reckoning written by John Stephens and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2015-04-07 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The final book in the bestselling Books of Beginning trilogy that began with The Emerald Atlas, which the New York Times called “a new Narnia for the tween set.” The adventures of siblings Kate, Michael, and Emma come to a stunning conclusion when they must find the last Book of Beginning—the Book of Death—before the Dire Magnus does, for when all three books are united, their combined power will be unstoppable. Soon Emma is on a journey to places both worldly and otherworldly, confronting terrifying monsters and ghosts, and what is darkest within herself. As the fabric of time begins to fray, she becomes the final piece of an extraordinary puzzle. Only if she can master the powers of this most dangerous book will she, Kate, and Michael be able to save the world from the dramatic, deadly final confrontation between magical and ordinary people that the Dire Magnus has in store.
Download or read book Class with the Countess written by Luann De Lesseps and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides advice on etiquette and modern social graces, covering the art of being oneself in any situation, ways to make other people comfortable, and the art of seduction.
Download or read book The Tattooed Countess written by Carl Van Vechten and published by . This book was released on 1924 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Blood Countess written by Lana Popovic and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A lush and bloody historical thriller” based on the infamous real-life inspiration for Countess Dracula, a Hungarian noblewoman turned serial killer.(Kirkus Reviews) In sixteenth-century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the Countess begins to groom Anna as her friend, confident and lover. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess t”akes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too. “Popovic balances lush, romantic language with gruesome imagery in this tale of innocence lost. Readers will likely be inspired to do actual research into Lady Bathory’s murderous misdeeds.” —Booklist “Popovic also touches on how a patriarchal society can drive women to extremes without letting the truly terrifying Bathory, or Anna, off the hook for their own actions.” —Kirkus Reviews “Hand to fans of dark historical fiction and powerful female characters.” —School Library Journal
Download or read book The Countess written by Lynsay Sands and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-01-25 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “You can’t help but fall in love with Lynsay Sands!” —Christina Dodd New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lynsay Sands trades in highland kilts for lush ballrooms and high-waisted gowns in The Countess, the first in a brand new, sexy, laugh-out-loud funny Regency romance series. Fans of Julie Garwood, Jill Barnett, and Teresa Medeiros will adore The Countess, and sympathize with her hilarious attempts to cover up the untimely demise of her despicable husband, even as the late earl’s twin brother sets her heart aflutter. The much adored creator of the popular Argeneau vampire family paranormal romance novels, the incomparable Lynsay is equally adept at historical romance—as this wonderful Regency romp so emphatically demonstrates!
Download or read book Courting the Countess written by Jenny Frame and published by Bold Strokes Books Inc. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor of Archeology Henrietta “Harry” Knight becomes Countess of Axedale upon her father’s death and takes a sabbatical from Cambridge University to begin refurbishing the long-neglected and run-down Axedale Hall. The child of a loveless marriage, witness to her father’s infidelities and her mother’s pain, Harry has no intention of ever falling in love. Annie Brannigan is a survivor, remaining positive through hardships. As an agency housekeeper, she moves from post to post with her daughter Riley, taking care of people who have everything she will never have. Annie’s greatest wish is to find her happy ever after. Can love restore the countess’s heart and the crumbling Axedale Hall, or will the first foundations of love turn to dust?
Download or read book The Blood Countess written by Andrei Codrescu and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “brilliant” novel of Elizabeth Bathory, the notorious sixteenth-century Hungarian aristocrat who bathed in the blood of virgins (St. Petersburg Times). Turmoil reigns in post-Soviet Hungary when journalist Drake Bathory-Kereshtur returns from America to grapple with his family history. He’s haunted by the legacy of his ancestor, the notorious sixteenth-century Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who is said to have murdered more than 650 young virgins and bathed in their blood to preserve her youth. Interweaving past and present, The Blood Countess tells the stories of Elizabeth’s debauched and murderous reign and Drake’s fascination with the eternal clashes of faith and power, violence and beauty. Codrescu traces the captivating origins of the countess’s obsessions in tandem with the emerging political fervor of the reporter, building the narratives into an unforgettable, bloody crescendo. Taut and intense, The Blood Countess is a riveting novel that deftly straddles the genres of historical fiction, thriller, horror, and family drama.
Download or read book The Duchess Countess written by Catherine Ostler and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A scintillating story superbly told... [Ostler] packs every paragraph with eye-opening detail' The Times 'A rollicking read... [Ostler] tells Elizabeth's story with admirable style and gusto' Sunday Times 'Terrifically entertaining: if you liked Bridgerton, you’ll love this...and her research is impeccable' Evening Standard 'Fascinating. Magnificent. Sensitively told' Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five 'Catherine Ostler’s superb, gripping, decadent biography brings an extraordinary woman and a whole world blazingly to life' Simon Sebag Montefiore When the glamorous Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol, went on trial at Westminster Hall for bigamy in April 1776, the story drew more attention in society than the American War of Independence. A clandestine, candlelit wedding to the young heir to an earldom, a second marriage to a Duke, a lust for diamonds and an electrifying appearance at a masquerade ball in a diaphanous dress: no wonder the trial was a sensation. However, Elizabeth refused to submit to public humiliation and retire quietly. Rather than backing gracefully out of the limelight, she embarked on a Grand Tour of Europe, being welcomed by the Pope and Catherine the Great among others. As maid of honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth led her life in the inner circle of the Hanoverian court and her exploits delighted and scandalised the press and the people. She made headlines, and was a constant feature in penny prints and gossip columns. Writers were intrigued by her. Thackeray drew on Elizabeth as inspiration for his calculating, alluring Becky Sharp. But her behaviour, often depicted as attention-seeking and manipulative, hid a more complex tale – that of Elizabeth’s fight to overcome personal tragedy and loss. Now, in this brilliantly told and evocative biography, Catherine Ostler takes a fresh look at Elizabeth’s story and seeks to understand and reappraise a woman who refused to be defined by society’s expectations of her. A woman who was by turns, brave, loving and generous but also reckless, greedy and insecure; a woman totally unwilling to accept the female status of underdog or to hand over all the power, the glory and the adventures of life to men.
Download or read book Tuscan Countess written by Michele K. Spike and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[This] marvelous biography peels back layer upon layer of previous myth to render a startling new portrait of the countess. . . . Absorbing.” —Publishers Weekly Tuscan Countess is a fast-paced and colorful exploration of the life of Matilda of Canossa (c. 1046–1115), a woman who loved a pope and was loved by him, successfully defied the Holy Roman Emperor, and changed the map of Europe. Matilda of Canossa, the “Great Countess,” was a remarkable woman. Her personal power was so extraordinary that even centuries after her death she became the first woman to be interred in St. Peter's Basilica. She is best remembered for her role in the conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperor, the climax of which took place at her castle of Canossa. This unique biography is also a journal of the author's travels through contemporary Tuscany as she explores the palaces where Matilda held court, the blood-stained plains on which her soldiers battled, the churches and cathedrals she endowed, and the fortified aeries where she sought refuge. Readers will be swept along on this engrossing journey retracing the steps of a courageous and brilliant woman.
Download or read book La Divine Comtesse written by Pierre Apraxine and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issued in conjuction with the exhibition of the same title held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 18 Sept. - 31 Dec. 2000.
Download or read book Conquering the Countess written by Em Brown and published by Em Brown. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Margaret Pole written by Susan Higginbotham and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of 'The King's Curse'; the extraordinary life of Margaret Pole, niece of Richard III, loyal servant of the Tudors.
Download or read book The Countess and the King written by Susan Holloway Scott and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-09-07 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Katherine Sedley lived by her own rules and loved who she pleased- until she became the infamous mistress of King James II... London, 1675: Born to wealth and privilege, Katherine is introduced to the decadent court of King Charles II, and quickly becomes a favorite from the palace to the bawdy playhouses. She gleefully snubs respectable marriage to become the Duke of York's mistress. But Katherine's life of carefree pleasure ends when Charles II dies, and her lover becomes King James II. Suddenly she is cast into a tangle of political intrigue, religious dissent, and ever-shifting alliances, where a wrong step can mean treason, exile, or death at the executioner's block. As the risks rise, Katherine is forced to make the most perilous of choices: to remain loyal to the king, or to England.
Download or read book The countess s cross written by mrs. Egerton and published by . This book was released on 1868 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Countess s Forgotten Marriage written by Annie Burrows and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2024-02-20 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An emotional Regency reunion Her memory has returned And she’s the Countess of Epping! Mary has arrived home, after months away, following a traumatic encounter with a highwayman that wiped her memory. Back in her grand house, her aloof—but distractingly handsome—husband, Anthony, is wary, suspecting her of the worst! But how can she explain that she’d become brave and wily to survive? She’ll need those skills if she’s to win back her earl’s trust, and if they’re to resume as man and wife once more… From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.
