Queen Hereafter by Isabelle Schuler
Queen Hereafter takes on the difficult task of blending the legendary portrayal of Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's (woefully inaccurate) Macbeth with the real-life historical figure, Gruoch. While Schuler's endeavor falls short of perfection, she managed to weave a rich tapestry for this well-known figure of Lady M in the Scottish play.
Schuler's writing truly shines in what she was able to craft of the atmosphere, mood, and setting, resulting in a transportive experience. The story itself felt draped in heavy mists and fog. Also, the commendable angle Schuler sets for her tale is one of reclaiming women's stories in history — imagining a vibrant, capable young woman, whose legacy gets tarnished by her ambition.
Unsurprisingly, not much is known about the real-life Lady Macbeth, especially outside of her fame as the wife and queen of MacBethad mac Findlaích (Macbeth). In Queen Hereafter, Schuler begins with Gruoch as a very young girl, perhaps too young. For the first little bit, I struggled to ascertain her age (which turned out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 years old), as her level of precociousness placed her more in line with a teenage Disney princess.
Gruoch, the daughter of a deposed king and descendant of ancient druids, grows up with the belief that she is destined to be crowned queen of Alba and restore her Pictish kin's lands. Following her betrothal to Duncan, the heir-elect, she works hard to embrace her new position at the royal court, determined to secure her foretold destiny. Once the political intrigue and betrayal take hold of the plot, something almost inevitable at court, Gruoch's characterization continues to fill out, and you start to glimpse the shaping of someone who will be immortalized through history and in the shielded and shadowy way of Lady M. However, one of the hurdles in reading this, if you're at all familiar with Mackers, is that you know all too well where this plot must take Gruoch, MacBethad, and Duncan. Regardless, Queen Hereafter offers a captivating tale of female ambition, power, and the pursuit of destiny.
Audiobook, as narrated by Sarah Vickers: Vickers did a great job, holding on to the atmosphere through your delivery can be difficult, but it's so important with a book like this, covering history from so long ago, and she masterfully anchored the story through her performance.
