The Bloodletter's Daughter (A Novel of Old Bohemia) by Linda Lafferty

I really enjoy the genre of historical fiction.  It is actually my favorite genre.  Last night, I finished reading; The Bloodletter's Daughter (A Novel of Old Bohemia) by Linda Lafferty.  It was really good.  The story takes place in the year 1606 and is based on a true story that had a hand in toppling the Hapsburg Dynasty. 

It tells the tale of the eldest son of Rudolf Hapsburg II.  Rudolf II was born in Vienna on 18 July 1552. He was the eldest son and successor of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary and Croatia; his mother was Maria of Spain, a daughter of Charles V and Isabella of Portugal.  He is said to have had several children with a mistress, the oldest was don Julius Caesar d´Austria. 

The book portrays don Julius Caesar d´Austria as a lunatic who is obsessed with the daughter of the barber/bloodletter of a Southern Bohemian town,  Český Krumlov (in the modern-day Czech Republic). He basically terrorizes the town and gets away with it, because he is the son of the king.  The bloodletters daughter, Marketa, the heroine of the story is a very complex character.  She is born in a time when women were not allowed to do very much, especially not practice medicine.  She assisted her father in bloodletting and actually gets to play more of a role in treating don Julius, since he is obsessed with her and will not allow any of the doctors or the barber near him. 

The story is loosely based on the story that don Julius went crazy and murdered the young girl and hacked her up in a bunch of pieces. It is thought today that he may have been schizophrenic and was locked up until his death, a few years later of an ulcer.  The book puts an interesting twist on the story of don Julius and was a good read.