Summary: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid comes a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her.
The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men.
The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.
The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.
But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.
She does not know this yet. But she will. (Summary and pic from goodreads.com)
My Review: Ya’ll!!! I am excited to tell you about this book. First of all, I am one of those people that once we go back to school I consider it basically spooky season, and if the temp drops below 70 at any time during the day or night it’s basically fall and I want to start living the fall-loving life. I am happy to report that sometimes in the mornings here it’s even 60, or even 50, and therefore it’s basically Halloween and time to start reading creepy books. Out with the jolly summertime/beach reads, and in with the spine-tingling types!
This book totally fit the bill. First of all, the cover is captivating, am I right? The image is so haunting, and Lady Macbeth’s eyes are obviously totally going to see through to your soul. This is a retelling of “Macbeth,” and let me tell you, it delivered! First of all, this book has atmosphere in spades. It was all about atmosphere. The ancient Scottish words and place names made the story feel ancient and wild. The castle was creepy, and the peripheral characters (at which point I’m going to be very vague about this to save you the exciting surprises!) are nightmare-inducing, as one might hope.
I think the strongest thing about this book really is the atmosphere. Reid does an excellent job of creating a wild and brutish feel to a very ancient time period. Macbeth himself is such a large character, both physically in the story as well as a personality and brute force that he himself creates an atmosphere that is haunting and wild and frankly, unhinged at times.
This story is told from the point of view of Lady Macbeth, and I enjoyed that viewpoint. We don’t often get to see what the world would have been like in ancient history from a woman’s viewpoint, and I think Reid did a good job of creating a character that felt believably intelligent and cunning but also constrained by her place in society not only as a woman but as the wife of a king.
My family and I visited Scotland a few summers ago, and one of the most memorable places we went was to the Isle of Iona, which is the seat of Scottish Christianity and also has the Burial Place of Kings, where Macbeth is said to be buried. The island itself feels old–ancient, in fact. The rocks have been worn down from the sea and the wind over centuries, and the buildings are storied and full of history. Iona Abbey is over 1000 years old, and the burial place feels ancient and deep in its history. Here are a couple pics I took of the Burial Place of Kings while there:
Although it looks like my sons have been possessed by the ghost of Macbeth in their faces, in reality I am just trying to protect their identity. Whether we actually took home a ghost from the Isle of Mull one can never know, but it did not, as far as I know, manifest itself in this pic. 🙂
I don’t know if you’ve ever visited a castle, but if you have, maybe you’ve had the same thought that I have–it would have been dark. SO DARK. And Cold. SO COLD. The stone of the castles does very little in keeping out the chill (and I feel like it keeps it in1), and I think like the lack of light and warmth would have just added to the atmosphere of what it would have actually been like to live in ancient times. Although it was late June in these pics, it was actually very cold on the Isle of Mull. My husband got really wet on the boat ride over there and he was almost hypothermic by the time we landed on the island. Once we walked around and dried out a little and had some warm soup it was ok, but it was really cold. The freezing cold wind actually gave me an earache that lasted for a few days. After this adventure we were able to go back to our cozy AirBnB with hot water and warm blankets and warm food. This is not what it would have been like to live in ancient Scotland. I really enjoyed Lady Macbeth because I think it captured the reality of what it would have been like to live in ancient Scotland. Yes, it’s beautiful and magical and rich in history and tradition. Also, it’s really cold and a harsh climate and constantly under attack from surrounding neighbors.
If you are into atmospheric retellings, especially historical fiction, I highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt like it was a perfect kickstart to my spooky season reading.
My Rating: 4 Stars
For the sensitive reader: There is some language, sex, and violence. I would rate it PG-13.
