Lady Macbeth

Villainess no more! The Lady Macbeth becomes a woman worthy of respect in this complete flip of Shakespeare’s better known play. A trained warrior in the tradition of her ancestors, she yields to the more modern (for the times) ways of men-only battles, and loses her first husband, father, brother and closest friends and cousins while climbing, through her second husband, MacBeth, to become the Lady of Scotland. A captivating and thoughtful tale full of sorrow and triumph, this book puts you in the time, wearing the dress, smelling the food and drink, seeing the glens and mountains of the lands walked on by a women we would today call Queen Rue MacBeth of Scotland

How interesting it would have been if Shakespeare had told the truth in his play! He would have had to portray very different characters than he did. In her novel LADY MACBETH, Susan Fraser King does just that, combining detailed historical authenticity and a great, compelling story. I loved the strength of character shown in King's historical Lady Macbeth. Rue, as Lady Gruadh is called in the novel, has strong opinions, yet the reader follows the subtleties of her thinking as she changes her mind about her initial opinion of Macbeth himself, and as she acts on her beliefs and convictions with other characters throughout the story. I also loved that almost every line in this novel reads like poetry. The writing is beautiful and evocative, and so visual that I could see in my mind everything as it transpired in the story. The author keeps the reader firmly in the world of 11th century Scotland, which takes true skill. It's historically accurate, yet in historical fiction, the strength of this story and its characters, and the quality of the writing is more important than the fascinating historical detail. King does a masterful job of blending both worlds of fiction and history. Shakespeare invented powerful characters and bloody situations to explore dramatic themes and to meet the political needs of his time, without much attention to actual facts. Susan Fraser King gives us a complete historical perspective on Lady Macbeth, producing a wonderful, enjoyable read. Highly recommended by an avid reader of historical fiction.

"Lady Macbeth" is certainly one of the best Macbeth stories there are. "King Hereafter" and "Stones of Destiny" are probably the only real competition. When I first heard about it, and then heard it was a romance novel, I near could've kicked somebody. "Darn it, I know how they'd do it, they'll... Grr! Romances!" I can't usually stand that kind of book. "Lady Macbeth" is nothing of the kind, though. It's not graphic. At all. Ever. And the characters are all realistic. The good ones have flaws. The bad ones have something to redeem them. A lot of time after Macbeth becomes king is left out completely. A whole lot. But the cuts are made skillfully, and the end, and Macbeth's death, were not damaged at all. It was actually a really good ending. Definitely worth getting.

Every now and then a historical novel comes along that has everything fans of the genre are looking for: Rich, jump-off-the-page characterizations, well-researched, makes learning about the time period fascinating, so suspenseful that you can't put it down, and written in first person so captivating that you're drawn into it on page one. Susan Fraser King's Lady Macbeth is such a book. She just shot to the top of my list of favorite historical fiction writers.

Susan Fraser King recreates the life of Gruadh inghean Bodhe, who became Queen of Scots and Lady Macbeth. As she explains in the historical note, "So little is known of Macbeth's queen that historians have drawn conclusions based on the events and circumstances around her." Drawing such conclusions as King does, within the context of a fictional story, works well. The story of Gruadh opens with two kidnappings and rescues - the later event taking place when Gruadh is almost of marrying age (about 14). "After the second abduction," Gruadh explains, "[M]y father assured me that I need not fear any further attempts. As soon he could arrange it, I would be married off to a man of his choosing, for he sought both a protector for me and an unbreakable alliance for our Fife lineage." At about the age of 15, Gruadh marries Gilcomgan of Moray, mormaer or ruler of the Moray region. Macbeth, who lost the opportunity for the title in a dispute over the manner of his father's death, coveted Moray. In this fictional account, he attacks and traps Gilcomgan in 1032 "in a burning tower with fifty men at Burghead Sands." He then marries Gruadh and becomes mormaer of Moray. At this point, the story largely becomes Macbeth's. While Gruadh struggles with her almost equal desires to be a warrior queen and a mother, Macbeth serves as a general to King Duncan. But Duncan was an inept ruler. By 1040, Macbeth garnered enough power to challenge and fatally wound the king. The story then skips ahead to 1050, the year Macbeth went on a pilgrimage to Rome. On his return, rumors abound concerning Malcolm Canmore's quest for the throne. Canmore was the son of Duncan. In essence, history repeats itself. Canmore does to Macbeth what Macbeth did to Duncan. Macbeth's rule ends in 1057 with his death. I enjoyed Lady Macbeth immensely. The author's writing style is agreeable; her storytelling ability adept. If there are any weaknesses, it's the occasional narrative that reads too much like a research summary. But that's a small flaw, easily forgiven. In truth, I can hardly believe this is the author's first book. I await the next with bated breath.

Who was Lady Macbeth? The monster of Shakespeare's greatest play or was she, as this book suggests, simply a woman who needed to be tough enough to survive savage times. The Lady of this novel is born to a heavy handed but loving father, grows up a bit wild and half pagan but knows her value: she bears the bloodline of Scottish kings on both sides of her family. The man who marries her could well be king. She is married off to a powerful lord who turns out to not be such a bad guy. I really liked this touch. Usually if a heroine of a historic novel has two husbands the authors make the first husband a brute or a stupid lout or so old and feeble that no woman would want him. I'm glad the author broke out of that mold. Rue and Macbeth are married purely for political reasons and she is cautious around him and makes it plain that she doesn't trust him. They do not fall madly into love at first sight. There is a physical attraction and Macbeth seems to understand her as well has her father does but the story never turns stickily sentimental. Eventually Rue and Macbeth settle into marriage and she comes to admire him and finally at the end of their lives together she finds that she did love him all along. Macbeth is a full bodied complicated character. I liked him from the first time he showed up and his death is really quite moving. Lady Macbeth is an excellent historical novel and I read it in two days because I just didn't want to put it down.