If I'm not mistaken, I saw an advert for this book in the New Yorker a few months back. It caught my attention because I'd done some basic research on the real Lady MacBeth for the first book I wrote. That book, which is well hidden in my desk drawer to this day, was a time travel historical romance and Gruach had a nice role in it.
I spied "Lady MacBeth" on the new release shelf at the library last week and had to check it out. After paranormal/urban fantasy books, historicals are my next favorite thing to read. Susan Fraser King's book didn't disappoint. Old Billy Shakespeare didn't do the MacBeth's any favors. They were actually fairly successful rulers of Scotland and she had quite the royal claim to the throne. Time has erased many of the true details of their lives, but King manages to create a viable history for Gruach and her second husband, MacBeth.
The only aspect of the novel that caught me a bit off guard was that she chose to tell the story in first person. Although more and more historicals are being told in this POV, I'm still not quite used to it. I've grown to expect it in urban fantasy, but I've not grown accustomed to it in a historical. It worked as Gruach is a strong character and in many ways the first person pov allows the reader to see the men in her world in a more 'realistic' way. We seem them through her eyes and her experiences.
Hats off to Susan Fraser King.....she's brought a different version of this Scottish queen to life.
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