A clever, apparently more accurate, version of a well known story. This novella packs a lot in, and offers up some twists.
The narration is excellent.
You are left wanting to delve more into Scottish history and culture.
As someone that is especially familiar with Shakespeare's version......I struggled to go with the flow of this one. However, I can see its appeal.

I downloaded this audiobook from NetGalley just in time to listen to it before it was archived, on its publication day.

This short novel is a masterclass in the importance of choosing the right moment to start your story - McDermid manages to create a twist in a story we all think we know already.

I particularly enjoyed her sly digs at Shakespeare, who deviated almost entirely from the actual history of the events he recounts in his play.

This is also one of those audiobooks in which the narrator really brings a huge amount of enjoyment in their own right.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

Three word review: language of flowers.

A great, quick telling of Queen Macbeth!

I love hearing about medieval Scotland and this certainly brought the Macbeths to life with humour, blood, gore and all!

The blurb sets out a challenging narrative to what we have known so far about the concept of Lady Macbeth and promises to bring to light a few unfiltered versions of history, contrary to Shakespeare's version. Hence, I was pretty excited to get started with this one.

The approach of the story is certainly different from the 3 other books I have read on the same topic. That being said, while the concept was riveting, I found very little to cling to in the story, as it was pretty short with minimal buildup on the chemistry between the two main characters. It also got me wondering about the jealous and hate angle between the two cousins brothers and what drives it. I would have enjoyed it more if the book had covered these aspects to create a wholesome picture of all the characters, exploring the complexities and stakes of power.

Thank you @netgalley @wfhowes for the digital ARC.
Genre: #historicalfiction
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

A short and concise version of Macbeth by Val McDermid that is perfectly packaged.
I am no expert of Macbeth, so cannot comment with any authority, but can offer a view on how I enjoyed it.
It was narrated brilliantly by Lesley Harcourt, who has a gorgeous accent and nailed the voices of her characters, the tempo and emotions beautifully. She captivated me throughout the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed the discourse, the journey of the relationship and passion that was felt by the queen, the battle for authority, use of power and plotting set in Scotland at its time.
The relationship between the queen and her supporting women was so important in her ability to remain strong in a patriarchal world, to be able use some of them as a sounding board and fulfil some of her plotting was evidently integral to her ability to sustain her fortitude. They rallied around her and kept her strong when she felt weakest or exposed. They were amazingly astute.

This is quite a departure for Ms McDermid. Over the years I’ve read many of her books and followed a couple of her crime series. I was intrigued by the blurb for this which promised an alternative Macbeth narrative to the one offered by Shakespeare. To be honest, it isn’t something I’ve ever challenged or thought about previously, so I was genuinely interested in the real story.

And what a story this turns out to be. The author’s introduction sets the scene and introduces the central figures with brief explanation. What follows is a very much female dominated story of intrigue, fighting, and clan divisions from back in the day. Scotland was ( and is) proudly independent and that stems from deeply ingrained Clan allegiances and divisions which go back centuries. Queen Macbeth very cleverly examines this from a female perspective and it’s powerful. Initially I struggled slightly to get my head round who was who, but it suddenly all dropped into place and what follows is a colourful and totally engaging depiction of a very troubled time. It’s rich in period detail and I felt I’d been swept back some centuries to an often bleak and violent landscape where forces clashed. It’s a brave and honest venture by Val McDermid and an outing I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Narration throughout is superb. Just the right tone and pace if delivery. Very excited by this book which has whetted my appetite for more things Scottish.

I'm a big fan of Val McDermid's writing, and thought the premise of this one was very intriguing - a retelling of Macbeth from the point of view of Lady Macbeth.

I'm pleased to say that it lived up to expectations - while it wasn't what I was expecting given it was largely set before and after the time period covered in Shakespeare's famous play, it was a really interesting character study and a tale of infatuation and love, and also the nature of leadership and power, whether power comes from status, strength or personality.

Whilst for the majority of the book I preferred the 'before' to the 'after', the latter section had an interesting conclusion.

Overall a very well written novella.

A thousand years ago in the Scottish landscape, a woman with her three female companions - a healer, a weaver and a seer - are on the run. Men are hunting her down, as she is the only one who stands in the way between them and the violent ambition for power. She is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king named Macbeth.

History might have written her as a murderer conspirator to her husbands, but here, she is a woman who has loved and lost, and this might cost her everything…

This surprised me as, at the start, we had a small foreword from Val McDermid who told us that Macbeth and his wife were actually real people. Some details in Shakespeare’s play are true, but twisted due to artistic licence. For example, Macbeth killed his cousin (King Duncan I, in battle near Elgin. Not, as Shakespeare says in his play, in his bed.

Now, the novella. I will admit that I did find this a tad slow and kept getting muddle with names at the start. But I think my reading funk is a factor in this as, if I was reading or listening to this again, I would find the pacing just right and I would know who’s who quite easily.

We, also, have a dual timeline: one where Queen Macbeth is on the run and the other where she first meets Macbeth. Once I found my footing, I really liked jumping back and forth as it gave us a better understanding of the woman who we are following: a woman who fell in love and, because of that, suffered later in life.

For a novella, this packs a lot in and it packs a punch. Queen Macbeth doesn’t shy away from the brutality of the Scottish clans and, while it does skim over certain dark/gory moments, you get that this is a bloody, brutal and ruthless time for people, women especially.

Am I going to come back to this? I don’t think so, but I really liked Val McDermid’s writing and her characters so I do think I shall return to her. I have a funny little feeling I might have something of her’s on my kindle [EDIT: I just checked and I do. Past Lying, which is the seventh in the Karin Pirie series.
Hopefully, I can dive in without needing to have read the previous…].

Fans of the play should know that this is more in the line with history, rather than the play. No magic, but a dark grittiness that historical fiction readers will devour in one sitting.

The Queen of Crime Val McDermid writes what is essentially a short story, accompanied by her notes, explaining her reasons for doing this, and what is actually known, offering a markedly different perspective on Shakespeare's Macbeth, a play I am closely acquainted with, having studied it in my teenage years, with its most notorious villain, the ruthlessly ambitious Lady Macbeth. I listened to this on audio, narrated beautifully by Lesley Harcourt, with all the drama, suspense and tension of the tale, keeping me totally engaged and enthralled. McDermid teases out the truth, shining a light on the the male dominated country, with its brutal realities, with a patriarchal picture of medieval Scotland, a far more truthful account. This will appeal to readers interested in Shakespeare, and this focus on history, a love story, of power, of male ambition and plotters. Queen Macbeth is with others, she is being hunted and doing all she can to survive. My biggest issue was that this is all too short, I would have loved a more in depth account and more on the key characters. Many thanks to WF Howes for a ALC.

Who better to give a raw account of the framed Scottish Queen Lady Macbeth, than Queen of Scottish literature, Val McDermid? This powerful story seeks to strip back the lore attached to Lady Macbeth in the Shakespearean tale, and give her back her own story - that of a queen married to the Scottish King Macbeth, the story of a woman seeking to survive in a patriarchal society, forced into marriage, under threat of death and whose position is always dependent on men. She flees with her three trusted women- a weaver, a healer and a seer, with a common aim.to seek safety and survive. Those who seek them wish death on them. They are pilats of strength with a strong will to live at a time of bloody massacre. I absolutely loved the audiobook version. Perfect for fans of Lady Macbeth, or fans of strong historical women's fiction. #queenmacbeth #valmcdermid #netgalley #wfhowes #audiobook