Lady Macbeth

Title: Lady Macbeth
Author: Susan Fraser King
Pub Date: 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction
Nutshell: A reasonably historical viewpoint of the Scottish Queen Gruadh, wife of Macbeth and somewhat unwitting Shakespearean villain

This is a hard review for me to write, because if I'm not careful it keeps getting into treatise territory. I am somewhat of a passionate amateur of early Celtic and Pictish society, early Medieval British history, and I'm also a longtime fan of Shakespeare's Macbeth, so this book created kind of a perfect storm of nerdiness. I'm going to try very hard not to write out a lecture here, but if you're interested in any of the underlying concepts I can certainly suggest a few or ten sources.

Lady Macbeth is basically the story of a series of events that occurred in 11th century Scotland through the eyes of a woman named Gruadh, who later became Lady of Moray and Queen of Scots. It might surprise you to know that many of the characters in Shakespeare's Macbeth were real people, and even though the events as portrayed in the play aren't particularly accurate, it is based on things that happened. Shakespeare wasn't interested in historical accuracy as much as he was into a good story and making whatever political point needed making at the time he was writing and performing the work. So if the only knowledge you have of any of these events is that play, prepare yourself. I personally like the real story much better (although Macbeth is a favorite play of mine) than the invented one, and you might find the same (this is not exactly the real story, to be fair, but it's at least a fair bit closer to it). 

Gruadh (GROO-ath) is the daughter of Bode, the ruler of Fife and son of King Kenneth III. She is raised with a deep understanding of her family line and her place in history. She is the last in a line of kings back to the founding of the kingship of Scotland by Kenneth I, a shadowy figure from the 800s who combined Celtic and Pictish royalty, and even further than that back to the fairly mythic Dal Riata, the original Gaelic Irish kingdom of Scotland. This is the stock from which all Scottish royalty descended, and kingship was decided in a rather serpentine fashion between cousins and matrilineal descent in the Celtic and Pictish tradition (let it be said for the record that a lot of this about Kenneth and Picts and such is up for debate based on more modern scholarship, but would most certainly have been the accepted history during the 11th century). 

Gruadh is a woman of the Celtic tradition, educated and feisty. She has experienced her share of hardship from a young age, as her ancient bloodline made her an object of desire by many warring factions present around the area. She is kidnapped more than once while still a child, and as a result comes to believe that she must be a fighter as well as a woman in order to lessen the danger to herself and the others who must fight on her behalf. Celtic warrior women were hardly unheard of in the myths and legends of the time--Gruadh herself cites the mythical Scottish fighter Scathach as well as the historical Celtic queen Boudica of England. She demands to be taught in combat and is also schooled in the pagan arts of divination and prophecy, having the gift of two sights (da Shealladh). Basically, Gruadh does not seek to be a compliant wife, but a proud Celtic woman who has the wit and courage to decide for herself in all matters. 

I don't want to go into a detailed plot description here, because if you want to read it you should do so. Suffice it to say that all the characters are well-written, and Gruadh is an excellent observer and storyteller. She gives an interesting narrative of what she sees and feels happening around her as well as the people that surround her. The author herself weaves in more than a fair amount of Celtic and Scottish history and culture, but manages to define and clarify concepts without breaking the line of the narrative (not an easy task). You feel as though you are reading the story of a friend who knows more about some of these things than you do, so she explains them for you without being too academic about it. It's very well done, and the story itself flows along rather quickly. Granted, Scottish history of this time period was anything but stagnant, so it's quite easy to travel from one crisis or battle or assassination to the next without it seeming unbelievable in the least. This was a warrior culture surrounded by other warrior cultures, so there was plenty happening at any given time.

If I had to make on complaint about the book, I would say that Fraser King probably romanticizes the Celtic/Gaelic past a bit more than I would think is accurate for the time period. In some of her rants on history and bloodline, Gruadh rather reminds me a bit of myself more than an 11th century Scotswoman. This is not to say that Scots were not (or are not) proud of their ancestry and heritage, because that is certainly not the case. But it seems to me that Gruadh is perhaps a bit more in love with the ancient ways and a fair bit more protective of them in the face of coming change than I think an actual person would have been in that era. Those parts seem a bit too much like a modern person having difficulties in reining in her obvious love of the ancient traditions. Which, as I say, reminds me of me. The more you know about Celtic myth and tradition, the harder it can be to put it in any kind of reasonable context. It is a noble, mystical, amazingly rich tapestry that can make modern viewpoints horribly boring in comparison. If an 11th century person knew what was coming down the pike in the way of squashing the old to make way for the new, they might indeed have fought tooth and nail to preserve what they had. But history is hard to see when you're in the midst of it, and most studies I have seen show that the old and the new dwelt more or less together in harmony without much threat being made to either at that time (Christianity was nice and all, and very useful politically, but if you had the sorts of old gods that the Celts and Saxons had, you were wise to appease them just in case. Jesus might forgive, but Wodin and the sidhe were not particularly given over to fits of mercy). 

Overall, I found this to be most enjoyable, and you don't need to have a huge love of Scottish history or even Shakespearean knowledge to like it. The story is well-told and interesting, and the fact that you might actually be learning something is just extra.