Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
Lady Macbeth
by Ava Reid
Retelling | Historical Fiction | Fantasy
320 Pages
Released August 2024
Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads
Content Warnings
There are some things you should know about me before I begin this review. First, I was a mediocre student in high school. While I enjoyed reading, I often abhorred the book selections for English class (Night by Eli Wiesel being, perhaps, the only exception). In particular, I really struggled with Shakespeare. I found his writing to be tedious and frequently struggled with deciphering hidden meanings and character intentions. Macbeth was no exception and as such, I definitely did some synopsis googling before going into this book to refresh myself. So this review comes from the perspective of someone with no formal literature background (shocking, I’m sure, if you’ve read any of my other reviews) or intimate familiarization with Macbeth and it’s variations. Let’s get started!
So, if you haven’t already guessed by now, this book is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In this novel we follow Roscille just before she is married off to Macbeth and her experiences thereafter. The play Macbeth follows the story of Macbeth and his power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth as he aspires to the throne (I’m leaving this purposely vague in case you are not familiar with the play and wish to go relatively blind into the book). This book is an adaptation of that story and focuses on the perspective of Roscille, soon to become Lady Macbeth.
I admit, when I first started this book, I was tempted to DNF it. The language was thick and heavy and I initially struggled to feel engaged and also fully understand what was going on. Thankfully, by around 10% in I began to feel more comfortable (at this point we are getting more internal thoughts/monologues and conversations) and before I knew it, I was actively enjoying the story.
I understand how this book can rub fans of the original the wrong way. Instead of a middle-aged ruthless woman who would do anything to help her husband gain power, Roscille is a seventeen-year-old girl, raised to believe she is witch-marked due to her unusual pale appearance and dark eyes. She is married off to Macbeth, surrounded by barbaric men in a foreign land, and left to fend for herself.
I appreciate Reid’s version of Lady Macbeth. Yes, it is an entirely different interpretation but I think it was a fresh take to see her as a 17 year old girl, newly wed and learning to hone her own power. Similar to the original depiction, she is intelligent and manipulative but her inexperience frequently causes her to make mistakes as she discovers herself and what she is capable of. I also really enjoyed the fresh take on the three witches and Roscille’s eventual interaction with them. Instead of depicting a power-hungry side of women, this novel seems to focus more on famine rage and women being raised up by those that came before them. I do wish there had been less of a focus on the romance but overall I really liked seeing the reinterpretations of different scenes in the play.
I thought this was a really interesting re-imagining. I do think it requires an open mind for those very familiar with the original but it can also be appreciated by those less familiar with the play. If you enjoy retellings, I recommend adding this to your reading list!