A few of us read together Lady Macbethad by Isabelle Schuler in celebration of reimaginings and retellings (octobers theme).
Taken from Goodreads….
About the book -Power. History. Love. Hate. Vengeance. She will be Queen. Whatever it takes...
Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba.
About the author -ISABELLE SCHULER is a Swiss-American actress, writer, and former bookseller. . She has a BA in journalism, and her screenplay Queen Hereafter was longlisted for the Thousand Films Screenwriting Competition in 2019 and adapted into her debut novel. She lives in London.
Thank you so much to
for choosing to read a long with me and your input. As well as a couple of friends I roped in to read it too it’s been a good book to discuss.As a teen I read Macbeth multiple times at school, as my first introduction to Shakespeare I was amazed. Shakespeare is one of those writers I would love to explore more but currently just too daunted. In both year 10 and 11 (when I was 14 and 15) as a class we read parts and dissected the meaning and interpretation. I went to see it with my class at the local theatre and even had to act one of the menacing witches in my GSCE drama class. However I only learnt now that Macbeth was based on a real person!
Schuler’s novel is a reimagining of Lady Macbeth was a kind of prequel to Shakespeares play. I picked up this novel in the hopes of reading through lady Macbethad’s eyes and experiences. She is such a key character and one all of us readers felt was the most/only interesting character in Macbeth that I loved the idea of getting to know her more.
Funnily everyone had a very similar opinion of the book, but I’m just going to take you through my thoughts and opinions. As always in book club and read a longs the post will have spoilers so if you’ve not read the book and would like to then book mark me and come back later!
Schuler I thought was a good storyteller, she painted her own world with characters who were interesting and mostly compelling. The first half of the book I thought was the strongest. It focused on Gruoch as a young child and her relationship with her mother and grandmother and their pagan roots. As a child her grandmother tells her of a proficy of her being the Queen of Alba. This statement is something that Gruoch fixates on and comes back to again and again throughout the book. The second half seems a little more rushed and in my opinion the focus seemed to be in the wrong places.
For a book about Lady Macbethad in my opinion it relied too heavily on the male characters to drive the story forward, whereas I think it would have benefitted to focus more on Gruoch (Lady Macbethad). I personally would have loved more of an internal monologue or something that created an additional layer to Gruoch. I had to constantly remind myself that for the majority of the book she is a child and her tendency to be a bit stubborn and childish is normal behaviour.
Schuler was used all the research and information she gathered really well to paint a clear picture to the reader , but I couldn’t help but want more. I wanted more from the female characters, and I didn’t want them to be against each other. I wanted it to be a bit more of a feminist spin. I couldn’t help but keep thinking that Schulers Grouch character felt lacking to the extremely intelligent, poised and conceited original Lady Macbeth. I originally put it down to her being a child but as we got closer and closer to the end she didn’t quiet fill the shoes I was expecting.
Ultimately I enjoyed the book and was glad to have read it. I chose it on a bit of a whim and although it’s not my favourite novel I do feel I’ve walked away with an additional layer and understanding to Lady Macbethad.
This month I really focused on theming my reads. Focussing on retellings and reimaginings selecting novels based on king Lear, huckleberry Finn and Macbeth. All of these worked as stand alone novels but I think all work best if you have a clear understanding of the original. King Lear is the only story I wasn’t super familiar with, yet it was also the book furthest from the original (set in a dystopian future).
I’ve never read this particular book, but I LOVE Lady Macbeth. I got super excited when I saw you read and reviewed this book, but sad to see it didn’t live up to your expectations.
I recently read the Lady Macbeth retelling by Ava Reid (one of my all time favorite authors) and had SUCH high hopes for it. Unfortunately I was slightly disappointed, as I felt like she didn’t quite stay true to her original character either and also used the male characters (particularly Macbeth himself) to drive the story forward. I was expecting more of a feminist spin to it, and it didn’t quite deliver for me. That being said, if you like Lady Macbeth at all I would still give it a shot! Ava Reid’s books are beautifully written and she creates a perfectly dark and eerie atmosphere. I wrote a review for the book a few weeks back if you’re interested! You can find it on my Substack page.
Still waiting for the perfect LMB feminist reimagining to come along and change my life 😂