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Nov 24, 2014 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Or more disturbing at least. That’s the case in Valerie Ogden’s biography of Gilles de Rais, 15^th century Baron of France and the man who became known in children’s folk tale as Bluebeard. In the fictional tale, Bluebeard is a rich man who had many wives, each who strangely disappears. He marries anew and, when he has to leave the country, tells his new wife that she is free to enjoy any and all of his riches but may not under any circumstances open one particular door. Overcome with curiosity, the new wife opens the forbidden door only to find the bodies of Bluebeard’s previous wives and the key she used to open that door now permanently stained with blood. Upon returning home, Bluebeard finds the stained key, knows what his wife has done, and is about to exact revenge before the wife is saved by her brothers who slay Bluebeard and all ends happily with the wife inheriting all of Bluebeard’s fortune.

The real Bluebeard, Gilles de Rais, has a story that does not end happily and is infinitely more gruesome than that of the folk tale. After de Rais’ parents die during his childhood, he becomes a key military player in France’s Hundred Years War. He fights alongside Joan of Arc and is torn by her persecution, after which de Rais’ life tumbles into a mess of sadism, torture, and murder. Spiraling into depression, mania, and bizarre behavior immediately following Joan of Arc’s death, de Rais wastes much of his fortune on daylong plays glorifying her life. And things go downhill from there. There are numerous attempts to commune with Satan. There is the sadistic pedophilic behavior, torture, and gruesome murder of countless children, lured to de Rais’ home never to be seen again.

Ogden’s Bluebeard chronicles de Rais’ life and speculates as to the mental health of an individual who would commit such heinous crimes. Ogden asserts the likelihood of de Rais’ being affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after dealing with losses of his parents as a child, then fighting in the Hundred Years War, and watching his companion Joan of Arc put to death. His behavior is discussed with a clinical psychologist’s eye. The book is meticulously researched, much information taken from testimony in de Rais’ eventual criminal trial. Ogden does not hesitate to go into grizzly detail about de Rais’ crimes, much of which is too disturbing and disgusting to do more than skim. While Bluebeard might be of limited interest to those who are not history buffs, the portrait Ogden paints of a soulless killer is truly chilling. (www.bluebeardthebook.com) (www.historypublishingco.com)

Author rating: 6.5/10