About the Book:

Lady Gruadh, called Rue, is the last female descendant of Scotland’s most royal line. Married to a powerful northern lord, she is widowed while still carrying his child and forced to marry her husband’s murderer: a rising war-lord named Macbeth. Encountering danger from Vikings, Saxons, and treacherous Scottish lords, Rue begins to respect the man she once despised–and then realizes that Macbeth’s complex ambitions extend beyond the borders of the vast northern region. Among the powerful warlords and their steel-games, only Macbeth can unite Scotland–and his wife’s royal blood is the key to his ultimate success.

Determined to protect her small son and a proud legacy of warrior kings and strong women, Rue invokes the ancient wisdom and secret practices of her female ancestors as she strives to hold her own in a warrior society. Finally, side by side as the last Celtic king and queen of Scotland, she and Macbeth must face the gathering storm brought on by their combined destiny.

From towering crags to misted moors and formidable fortresses, Lady Macbeth transports readers to the heart of eleventh-century Scotland, painting a bold, vivid portrait of a woman much maligned by history.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that looked interesting, due to its proclamation that it was based more on the historical account of this Scottish king, and his wife — and less on the Shakespeare account of this enigmatic duo.  And in some ways the book was everything I hoped it would be, and in other ways — it wasn’t.  Told from the perspective of Lady Gruadh MacBeth, the story helps to change our perceptions of some of the known story, and cloud other parts of it even further.

Family lore suggests that I have relations that came through some of the cast of this story.  (Though not the line of MacBeth, himself.)  So this is a story that has always fascinated me for various reasons.  And this book certainly offers an interesting insight into the early days of the difficulties of the Scottish clans, and the struggles they faced on a regular basis of trying to combine a vast array of cultures, into the proud — if somewhat volatile — people they developed into.  I think what rings through the most in this book is the constant struggle for identity among the Scottish people.  The cultural clash of the Vikings, Irish, Pictish, Celtish, and English — not to mention the religious additions of the Celtic and Irish mythology and the Catholic church collide into a constantly struggling whole.  Combine with that the struggle for national identity, as well as the desire for ruling authority, and this story is the groundwork for some very explosive situations.  Not only does this come together to form a great book — but it is also insightful in the growing pains that ensue when myriad cultures come together in a small location, and all seek for recognition and identity.

Through the voice of lady Gruadh we are given a vast insight into the Celtish mythologies of the time, but also an understanding of the superstitions that always seemed to overwhelm Shakespeare’s account of the once great King, and his people.  Held over from a much earlier time, these traditions were very influential in the people generally, and we are able to see that this was not just a fancy of The Bard, but a historical fact that influenced much of this culture as a whole.

But we are also give a great insight into Lady Macbeth, and who she was, and why.  This story did go a long way to clarifying the somewhat tainted image that Shakespeare left us with, of this great lady.  The woman who came across as power hungry, and would stop at nothing to get the throne through murder, deceit, and lies — we come come learn was actually one of the last living members of the once great royal line.  But due to the unusual customs of descent, the throne was withheld from her when King Malcolm usurped the throne on his son’s behalf, rather than following the dictates of tradition.  This of course changes the motives of Lady Macbeth and her noble husband a great deal.  No longer are they the usurpers of power, willing to commit any heinous act to gain their desires — but rather the honest, and honorable rulers, who’s legacy has been tainted through enemies, and time.

My only complaint about the book is that we still gain little insight into Macbeth, himself.  We come to see him as a quite, yet powerful leader of men, driven and committed to the well being of his people.  But beyond that, there is little in the development of his character over-all.  This would be hero has the basic construction of a merging of Shakespeare’s frail king and Braveheart.  But, the overall development of that character never comes to full fruition.  I felt like he was a carbon copy of these other influential men, and he never took on the role he was intended to throughout the story.  Maybe that is because the story is told through the voice of his wife, and so we only see him from the outside looking in.  But somehow I felt like he was only a ghost of a character.

Tags: Celts, Family, Government, Historical Fiction, Macbeth, Mythology, Scotland, Scottish, Shakespeare

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Politics