Review by Booklist Review
The curtain rises on a masterful production. Val McDermid presents a new volume in the Darkland Tales series, which offers interesting reimaginings of medieval Scottish history, complete with legendary saints, Vikings, witches, and historical personages, including Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Here, amidst some recognizable phrases from Shakespeare's play, is a whole new take on Lady Macbeth. In this novel, her real name is Gruoch--and the story unravels entirely from her point of view. She is on the run with four trusted companions. Macbeth has been killed in battle, and her son Lulach is dead by Malcolm's hand. McDermid offers a sympathetic look at a woman who views herself as a mere game piece in an oppressive patriarchal society and makes a life for herself among the ubiquitous blood feuds and treachery of her time. There is a useful glossary included in case the reader needs some clarification of the dialect (just what, exactly, constituted a "girnie auld fool"?). All fans of The Bard will enjoy this.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Scottish crime writer McDermid (the Karen Pirie series) provides a middling origin story for Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, who was inspired by real-life medieval Scottish queen Gruoch. Following Macbeth's slaying of King Duncan in battle, rival armies rampage across the countryside. Meanwhile, Gruoch hides behind enemy lines with her three handmaidens. The women, aided by a soldier, drug a monk and frame him for murder before making their escape, which is cut short when they fall into the clutches of rival thane Macduff. As Gruoch draws upon her wits to save the lives of her loyalists, McDermid intercuts the action with flashbacks to Gruoch's first encounter with Macbeth, when she was the wife of a ruling chieftain and recognized in Macbeth her equal in treachery. McDermid hews close to the historical record, but the numb dialogue and melodramatic love affairs never threaten to touch Shakespeare's version of the story. As one of the handmaidens flatly observes, "It's not just the act that matters, it's the atmosphere." This falls short. Agent: Lizzy Kremer, David Higham Assoc. (Sept.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
History and drama often make strange bedfellows, especially when facts obstruct a good story. Shakespeare was particularly masterful at shaping facts to fit the narrative, often driven by the need to satisfy the prevailing political wind. McDermid (Past Lying) reimagines history to rehabilitate one of Shakespeare's most ill-used victims: Gruoch, a.k.a. Lady Macbeth. Recognizing that Gruoch's life has more questions than answers, McDermid's fictional account blends truth and speculation to retell her story. In McDermid's telling, Scottish king Macbeth kills Duncan, Malcolm's father, but on the battlefield, not in his bed. Malcolm seeks revenge for his father's death and aims to capture the Scottish throne for himself. After Macbeth's supposed death at the Battle of Dunsinane at the hands of Malcolm's forces, his widow is forced to seek sanctuary, essentially alone except for a few loyal servants. As Malcolm's men close in and capture her, Gruoch faces certain death. When all seems lost, will loyalty and love triumph? VERDICT Terse, atmospheric, and superbly reimagined, McDermid's latest (part of a recent spate of novels about Lady Macbeth by the likes of Joel H. Morris and Ava Reid) perfectly captures the terror of living in a medieval Scotland riven by violence. Scottish history enthusiasts will enjoy.--Penelope J.M. Klein
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
One of Scotland's premier crime writers takes on the legendary life of Macbeth's fiery queen, Gruoch. Medieval Scotland is a violent landscape, where kingdoms are passed down not merely through bloodlines but through battle and bloodshed. For years, Gruoch has been at its center, first as the wife of the tyrannical Gille Coemgáin, then reigning for nearly two decades alongside the love of her life, Macbeth, and finally as the queen mother when her son assumes the throne. Offering a completely different take from Shakespeare's gloomy, guilt-ridden Lady Macbeth, this slim novel uses a dual timeline. In the present, McDermid tells the story of Gruoch and her three ladies in waiting (a sly spin on Shakespeare's "toil and trouble" witches), who all become fugitives as they flee from an attempted coup during the reign of Gruoch's son. In the past are flashbacks to Gruoch's life with her first husband, Gille, her schemes to wind up with Macbeth, and their life together as rulers of the kingdom of Moray. Part of the Darkland Tales series, in which Scottish writers take on foundational moments in the country's history and mythology, this novel seems unexpected territory for McDermid, but she plays to her strengths. The result is a surprisingly suspenseful tale--a special challenge in historical fiction when the general contours of a narrative are already known. Even within those confines, McDermid manages twists and turns that not only show her chops as a mystery novelist, but upend the cultural stranglehold Shakespeare's antiheroine has on our understanding of this intriguing real-life woman. A love letter to Scotland via a fast and fresh look at one of its monumental--and monumentally misunderstood--figures. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
