Lady Macbeth

If you are looking for a novelized version of Shakespeare's extraordinary Scottish Play, this is not it. This is a novel about the actual king Macbeth and queen Rue. Based on the Annals of Ulster and other sources, we withness Gruadh's life from a young age to the age of forty. Through her, we experience the constant battles for the control over Scotland, and the importance of the brave warrior Macbeth, the man who has passed from history into legend.

Elements of folklore are blended into the story, casting an otherwordly light over the fates of the characters, and the sacred places of Iona and Scone become alive through King's pen. Having had the fortune to visit them some years ago during a trip to Scotland and Ireland, I can say that her prose does justice to the intense feeling that these two places provoke to the visitor.

Susan Fraser King shows, once again, that she is one of the best representatives of how powerful Historical fiction is, when done right.