In sixteenth-century Hungary, Countess Elizabeth Bathory tortured and killed more than 600 servant girls in order to bathe in their blood. "She believed this practice would render her beauty immortal; it certainly did her reputation," says Holly Luhning, author of Quiver, which explores the gory historical tale.

The novel was published by Harper Collins Canada in 2011 to national acclaim. Antanas Sileika of the National Post wrote, "Luhning holds a PhD in the literature of 18th-century madness and theories of the body, but there is nothing remotely academic about this thriller. It is fast and wicked and dark. The writing in this novel is as clean and slick as a stiletto between the ribs."

Raised in rural Saskatchewan and now living in Toronto, Luhning received the 30 Below Lieutenant Governor's Arts Award in 2005, and her collection of poetry, Sway, was nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award. Luhning received an Independent Artists grant to write part of Quiver, which is her first novel.

"I first started writing about Bathory in poems. But a lot of the poems I tried weren't working. It took me about a year to fully admit that the ideas and narratives I wanted to explore were best suited to a novel," she says. "And then I had the very daunting task of learning how to write a novel as I went along. I was very fortunate to have wonderful mentors in Saskatchewan as I went through this process."

Quiver was released in the United States by Pegasus Books in summer 2011.

For more on Holly Luhning, visit www.hollyluhning.com.

Photo of Holly Luhning by Ben Checkowy.

Watch the Book Trailer for Quiver

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