Abacus wins auction for Velton's novel based on 16th century countess rumoured to be a killer

Abacus has triumphed in a three-way auction for Sonia Velton’s gothic historical novel The Nightingale’s Castle – based on the real life story of Hungarian Countess Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1614), who is rumoured to have been a serial killer.

Publisher Clare Smith bought UK and Commonwealth rights  from Juliet Mushens. Millicent Bennett and Amy Baker from Harper Perennial acquired North American rights from Jenny Bent, on behalf of Juliet Mushens. It will be published in May 2024.

The synopsis reads: “In 1573, Countess Erzsébet Báthory gave birth to an illegitimate child. The infant, a girl, was swiftly bundled up and handed to a local peasant family to be brought up in one of the hamlets surrounding the castle. Many years later, 15-year-old Boróka reluctantly leaves the safety of the only home she has ever known in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The countess has sent out trusted members of the household to gather new serving girls and the kindly old man who has taken care of Boróka for almost all her life knows that it is too dangerous to turn them away.

“Boróka struggles to find her place at Čachtice Castle: she is frightened of the countess’ reputation as an  alleged murderer of young girls, and the women who run the castle are powerful and cruel. When plague comes into the heart of the castle, a tentative bond begins to form between Boróka and the Countess Bathory. But powerful forces are moving against the Countess whose wealth poses a threat to the King: can the Countess really trust the women who are so close to her? And how will Boróka survive when she becomes caught up in events that are beyond her control?”

“Erzsébet Báthory – whose infamous place in history characterises her as the ‘blood countess’ – is rumoured to have murdered 600 peasant girls in Hungary in the late 1500s. The Nightingale’s Castle tells the story of a powerful older woman fighting to hold onto her lands and wealth against the powerful men who desire it.”

Smith said: “Sonia’s writing has the most gorgeous sensuous quality, while the characterisation held me absolutely along with the skilful plotting."

Velton, whose début novel,  Blackberry and Wild Rose (Quercus),  was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, said: “Báthory is fascinating; not because of the salacious details of her supposed crimes, but because she was the victim of one of the most ruthless show trials in history.

“While any number of horror films have portrayed her bathing in her victim’s blood, the likely reality is that she was a rich, highly cultured and intelligent woman who managed her estates even after she became a widow. However, without the protection of a husband, she became vulnerable to powerful men who wished to relieve her of her wealth. Like Anne Boleyn, when she too became inconvenient, Báthory was accused of crimes bordering on the preposterous.”