Queen Hereafter (US) / Lady Macbethad (UK)
This deep dive into the origin story of Lady Macbeth transports the reader to 11th-century Scotland, a time steeped in religion, superstition, factions and fighting. It’s a man’s world, but Gruoch, granddaughter of a king and daughter of a prince, is not content to be a submissive player in her own life story. Her pagan grandmother has whispered to her of a glorious future, and Gruoch believes she is destined to be a queen. Although attracted to her handsome cousin, Macbethad, Gruoch thinks a union with King Malcolm’s son Duncan offers a better chance for her royal ambitions, and it’s hard to know if it’s her belief in her destiny that drives her, or her innate ambition making her believe it’s her destiny is to be a queen.
Schuler has created an immersive world where violence is the norm, and ambition is almost synonymous with survival. Gruoch is tough, and a credible precursor to Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, toward whom enjoyable nods are made as the story unfolds. It’s worth emphasizing that as an origin story the novel only covers Gruoch’s early life and marriages. Duncan, according to Shakespeare at least, was an old man when Macbeth murdered him, and Queen Hereafter stops many years short of that. If there is a sequel in the works, I’d certainly be interested in reading more of Gruoch’s story.
