Lady MacBethad

I know most people in my online bookclub who read this with me loved it, but I was sadly in the minority.

It wasn't that the book was badly written or anything like that. I just couldn't bring myself to like the main character which made it difficult to really enjoy the book.

Thank you to PH and Isabelle Schuler for the chance to read this book.

This book had me in a chokehold! Grouch, doing anything to achieve her goal, I could hardly put this down.

A political story woven so acutely, balanced with compelling characters (if not very nice characters). While not something I usually go for, this pulled me along with Grouch as she tried and failed and tried again to achieve her goal.

Macbethad! Oh how I want a man like Mecbethad.

 ‘'I have been tossed around my whole life. And every time I create myself anew. Every time I rise from the ashes and forge a new life for myself. My very existence is in defiance of those who would have killed me. I do not have the luxury of knowing who or what I desire beyond surviving each day, as it comes. I would not even know where to begin.''

This story doesn't need any synopsis, so I'll just continue with a couple of observations that found refuge in my mind as I was reading the novel.

a) Gruoch is not the irritating know-it-all female character, a type that seems to have invaded Historical Fiction, reducing it to a caricature that closely resembles bad TV series. She is wise enough to know when to speak and when to listen, and most importantly, when to act, and I appreciate the fact that the writer doesn't insult our intelligence. Regardless, she is delusional to the point of exhaustion but this is something I can live with.

b) The writing is atmospheric, and the dialogue is truly top-notch. There is a much-needed (and rarely seen nowadays...) balance between realistic interactions and the feeling that you are reading a story taking place in an era lost in the mists of time. There are no ridiculous anachronisms, and Gruoch's manner of speaking is authoritative and confident without being pompous. So, the writer's efforts definitely made a difference in that respect.

c) However, Gruoch is not THAT different from the Bard's version. Both are ruled by a vicious, ruthless sense of ambition and almost illogical aspirations of grandeur. And if you ask me, Shakespeare's queen has a much more convincing motive than an obscure pagan prophecy. If I had had a drink every time she invoked her ‘divine right', I would have become an alcoholic. Shakespeare's Lady had mystery, aura, a haunting halo of an inevitable tragedy. This one can be seen as a petulant - albeit interesting - child for about 60% of the novel. Here is not someone who wants to avenge her family or her homeland but a Dark Ages version of a madman crying ‘I am Napoleon'. And what about being afflicted with such a deep ambition that you are willing to whore yourself to advance? What kind of message is that, I wonder? Is the way to win a man's heart to spread your legs at will? I mean, you are the feminists. You obviously know better...

d) You might want to take it easy with the pagan BS and the queer subplots that are nothing more but lip service to the contemporary mob.

e) You might want to rethink the sacrilege of using the immortal words of the Bard as your own (as Easter eggs (!). Please!

Bottom line? As a Historical Fiction novel, Lady MacBethad is interesting and well-written. It kept my interest despite my objections, and I would read any following installments. As a retelling of Gruoch's story? I wonder whether William Shakespeare's immortal masterpieces need to be ‘retold'...