21. Lady MacBeth

By Susan Frazer King
Rated 5+ Stars

Since Dunnett's King Hereafter is one of my favorite books EVER and her Groa and Thorfinn have permanent places in my heart I was a little apprehensive about having another author mess around with the story. But Jani assured me I would like this one and since Jani's taste in books and mine always seem to agree, plus the fact that she sent me the book after she reviewed it guaranteed that I was going to read it. It's great! Here is a blurb from my library's website:

Celtic magic mixed with early Christianity weaves through this retelling of the life of the legendary, power-mad Scottish queen. All the elements of Shakespeare's famous play are present: the betrayals, the magic, the medieval setting, and the bloody rise of Macbeth from lord to king through murder. But King in her hardcover debut draws on the historical record and research done by the great historical novelist Dorothy Dunnett for King Hereafter to rework the familiar story from the viewpoint of Macbeth's lady, whose name according to an 11th-century document was Gruadh. She was of Scots royal blood, and thus it can be gathered, and as King retells it, that she was from an early age a pawn for power. T