Genre: Historical
Age Range: Adult
Star Rating: 4 stars
Series: standalone
Blurb:
Power. History. Love. Hate. Vengeance. She will be Queen. Whatever it takes…
Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba. When she is betrothed to Duncan, heir elect, this appears to confirm the prophecy. She leaves behind her home, her family and her close friend MacBethad, and travels to the royal seat at Scone to embrace her new position.
But nothing is as Gruoch anticipates. Duncan’s court is filled with sly words and unfriendly faces, women desperate to usurp her position, and others whose motives are shrouded in mystery. As her coronation approaches, a deadly turn of events forces Gruoch to flee Duncan and the capital, finding herself alone, vulnerable and at the mercy of an old enemy. Her hope of becoming Queen all but lost, Gruoch does what she must to survive, vowing that one day she will fulfil her destiny and take up the future owed to her. Whatever it may take.
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
LADY MACBETHAD is not a retelling of the play Macbeth but rather an imagining of what might have occurred in the years before the play, shaping the character we know as Lady Macbeth.
Like BLOOD QUEEN, this book draws on some of the history we know really happened (the play itself is pretty much all invention – the actual king Macbeth ruled for 17 years that were relatively peaceful as Scottish history of the time goes!) It was interesting to see another take on the events, an equally bloody affair full of men using women for their own end and betraying them. There are also plenty of manipulations (from men and women) and abuses of power, not to mention backstabbing.
The book explores what might happen in order to create the calculating, ruthless woman of the play who is willing to kill a guest in her own house for power. I liked that Gruoch is never made into the sort of pitiful victim who then becomes all cold, but is ambitious from the start. It is about survival too, but I liked that that was not her only motivation – this is a woman who wants power and isn’t afraid to admit it.
I found the early build up of pagan magic and the importance it had in tearing Gruoch’s family apart interesting as it does not come into play at all after the first 50-odd pages other than Gruoch’s personal belief in the prophecy. I though it an interesting choice and I think I would have liked more of that tension between old and new to continue throughout the book, rather than justifying a prophecy and her mother’s death then not coming up again.
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 