Queen Macbeth, part of the Darkland Tales series, is aimed at exploring the truth behind the story – the myth, as the author would have it – Shakes3.5
Queen Macbeth, part of the Darkland Tales series, is aimed at exploring the truth behind the story – the myth, as the author would have it – Shakespeare presents in the play Macbeth. Her particular focus is the woman we know as Lady Macbeth in the play but whose real name was Gruoch and herself possessed royal blood.
The book alternates between past and present timelines, all written from the point of view of Gruoch (Helpfully, one is in italics.) The past timeline starts when Gruoch meets her husband’s cousin Macbeth for the first time. She considers him a vast improvement on her husband whose only interest in her is to get an heir, something she has been unable to provide. Macbeth offers a much more enticing prospect.
The author replaces Shakespeare’s rendition of events with historical fact, adding parts of Macbeth and Gruoch’s life together that are not mentioned in the play. For example, that they undertook a pilgrimage to Rome. Macbeth comes across as a (relatively) more benevolent and sane ruler than he does in the play, even if it was very likely he gained the throne by murdering his cousin. But then most kings of Scotland at the time gained – and lost – their thrones that way. Real life figures such as Duncan, Macduff and Malcolm feature but with more historical accuracy. Other characters from the play appear but in different roles. For example, the equivalents of the three witches are Gruoch’s waiting women, one of whom is gifted with ‘second sight’.
Little is known about Gruoch’s life after Macbeth’s death so McDermid engages her writer’s imagination to continue the story. In the present day timeline it’s four years on from Macbeth’s death and Gruoch has been in hiding from King Malcolm, to whom she poses a threat as a rallying point for rebellion. Their hiding place having been discovered, Gruoch and her faithful companions are forced to flee across the country. Unfortunately they are captured and it looks like the end of Gruoch’s story. However, the book’s blurb warned to ‘expect the unexpected’ and the author definitely delivers it at this point. In Shakespeare’s play Lady Macbeth meets a bloody end, in this one it’s more sail off into the sunset.
As you’d expect from Val McDermid, Queen Macbeth is very well written and I liked the occasional inclusion of Scottish words (there’s a helpful Glossary) and the way she sometimes incorporated into the dialogue quotations from Macbeth. (Probably a lot more of them than I noticed.) The book provides a vivid picture of medieval Scottish life in a noble household including detailed descriptions of food.
Although it was fascinating to learn about the ‘real’ Lady Macbeth, it’s fair to say quite a lot of events in the book are drawn from the author’s imagination given Gruoch simply disappears from the historical record....more
I’ve become a great fan of Graham’s books which combine the drama of real historical events – often revolving around key turning points in 20th centurI’ve become a great fan of Graham’s books which combine the drama of real historical events – often revolving around key turning points in 20th century history – with the excitement of a thriller. Although all the books are part of the ‘Spoils of War’ collection, the great thing is they are non-chronological so can be read in any order or as standalones.
In this case the historical starting point is the Japanese bombing of the US naval base at Pearl Harbour in December 1941, described by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the time as “a date which will live in infamy”, and which triggered the US’s entry into WW2.
Quincy Kane’s position in the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President, places him close to the heart of things. He can see the difficult decisions the President must grapple with as well as Roosevelt’s day-to-day struggles with the physical consequences of the polio he contracted as a young man. The author creates a neat personal connection between the two men and, much later, another character.
Kane also witnesses first-hand the difficult relationship between Roosevelt, who favours order and routine, and the mercurial Winston Churchill who seems to thrive on chaos. However, what Roosevelt and Churchill do agree on is the need to stop French ships falling into German hands. A plan is hatched which requires Kane to revisit the organized crime case he solved years before which made him the toast of the Boston Police Department. The only trouble is the people involved are still serving prison time.
From this point on we’re into full-on thriller territory with Kane reunited with a former colleague with a love of reptiles and the music of Wagner. Soon however Kane comes up against a human reptile with an ego the size of a planet, a penchant for violence and a dangerous fascination with the woman in Kane’s life, LA Times journalist Lou Mahoney. Mahoney is surely every red-blooded heterosexual man’s dream: smart, attractive and skilled in the bedroom. It’s a distraction from the mission Kane has been assigned and things become even more difficult when anti-Japanese sentiment scuppers an essential part of the plan.
It’s fair to say Kane doesn’t get through unscathed. Actually, let’s be honest, he’s pretty battered and bruised by the end of the book and makes some death-defying escapes of which James Bond would be proud. The end of the book finds Kane in a different part of the world, possibly leaving things open for a future reunion?...more
I’ve been a fan of the Meonbridge Chronicles ever since the first book, Fortune’s Wheel. You can think of Meonbridge as the medieval equivalent of AmbI’ve been a fan of the Meonbridge Chronicles ever since the first book, Fortune’s Wheel. You can think of Meonbridge as the medieval equivalent of Ambridge in the long-running BBC Radio 4 drama, The Archers. This ‘everyday story of farming folk’ is interspersed with the usual life events – births, marriages, deaths – and the goings-on that occur in a small community such as disagreements between neighbours, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters. The changing of the seasons bring challenges and from time to time events in the outside world imposes themselves. People depart for pastures new and there are occasional new arrivals. And Meonbridge is not free from crime… even murder.
Sister Rosa’s Rebellion is the sixth book in the series and, as in previous books, the author has plucked one or two characters from the large cast she created in the first book (and their descendants) to be the focus of the story. In this case, it’s Johanna de Bohun, now known as Sister Rosa since her departure from Meonbridge for Northwick Priory, and Meonbridge bailiff, John atte Wode, still a bachelor living with his aged mother.
The reason for Rosa’s flight? Well, that’s a secret burden she carries. Of a shameful act in her past and guilt at its tragic consequences. Initially, she saw cloistering herself away from the outside world in Northwick as a way to atone for her sins but over the years she’s come to appreciate the simplicity and fulfilment of religious life under the wise and gentle guidance of Mother Angelica. Now that’s all at risk, and so is her secret. Will her fellow nuns think differently about her if they discover her past?
The story moves at a gentle pace but is not without moments of drama, especially in the storyline involving John atte Wode. Along the way we learn just how stratified medieval society was with most eking out a living from the land whilst a few wield power and influence, and live a life of luxury. It’s that sense of entitlement that drives Sister Evangelina who, if not exactly an out-and-out villain, certainly puts her own interests above those of others. The story also demonstrates how life in a convent might be the only option for certain young women, such as those widowed or unable to make a favourable marriage.
I loved Rosa as a character. She has immersed herself in a life of prayer and service, and possesses a strong sense of justice. But she’s also resourceful and not averse to a little subterfuge if she believes it’s for the greater good. You can’t help rooting for her and feeling empathy with her struggles to do the right thing even if that means breaking her vows. I was glad she finds out her feelings of guilt may be misplaced and I rejoiced in her role as matchmaker.
I also enjoyed catching up with other characters and seeing how the ‘wheel of fortune’ has turned for them over the years.
Sister Rosa’s Rebellion is another excellent addition to the Meonbridge Chronicles series and we are promised that more stories about the folk of Meonbridge will follow. That’s great news....more
The Surgeon’s House is the follow-up to The Small Museum. If you haven’t read the earlier book never fear because there is a generous amount of detailThe Surgeon’s House is the follow-up to The Small Museum. If you haven’t read the earlier book never fear because there is a generous amount of detail about previous events. On the other hand, if you have read the earlier book you’ll either find the lengthy exposition a useful recap or think, as I did, I already know all this.
The narrative alternates between Rebecca as she attempts to discover the person responsible for Rose’s murder, as well as safeguard the future of Evergreen, and Grace, confined to a mental institution for ten years now and saved from the gallows only by the evidence of her father’s assistant and one time protegee, Edward Threlfall.
In my review of The Small Museum, I likened Grace to Mrs Danvers in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. In this book she’s more like Miss Havisham in Dickens’s Great Expectations, consumed by a desire to wreak revenge on those who have wronged her. Grace prides herself on her ability to manipulate others and sees her daughter Eloise, who was sent abroad to be adopted, as the vehicle for delivering vengeance. She also retains a perverted obsession with proving her father’s theories correct, something that would mean continuing his vile experiments. And she is coldly indifferent to the fate of her two sons.
Rebecca has worked to make Evergreen a place where women can leave their unhappy pasts (abuse, prostitution, children out of wedlock) behind and learn skills that might enable them to gain employment. It’s a community that has become more like a family and Evergreen’s cook, Rose, was a key part of this. Her loss is keenly felt, especially by Rebecca. Unfortunately, not everyone shares Rebecca’s enlightened views. They believe women such as those who live at Evergreen to be degenerate and sinful, deserving only of being put to work in laundries and having their children sent away.
The story also explores the prejudiced views held at the time about women’s predisposition to mental breakdown. Dr Threlfall is an ‘alienist’ (what we’d now call a psychiatrist) who although using ‘talking therapies’ to treat female patients also clings to unproven concepts. ‘Women are closer to madness than men, and it’s easier for their minds to fall ill because their bodies are weak; they cannot hold up. Women also suffer in the mind from the nature of their physiognomy, it is constantly changing.’ There are unsettling descriptions of young women being forcibly bundled into Threlfall’s consulting rooms by male relatives.
I pretty much worked out where things were going as soon as a particular character turned up and as events unfolded my feeling I was right became even stronger. In fact, I thought it was so obvious I wondered if the author had creating a huge red herring and I’d fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
I would have liked Rebecca’s husband George to feature more prominently, although he does make a crucial intervention at one point. However, this is really Rebecca and Grace’s story. They’re both exceptionally determined women but their motivations couldn’t be more different: evil in Grace’s case and generosity of spirit in Rebecca’s.
For me, The Surgeon’s House lacked the compelling Gothic element of The Small Museum but it will, I’m sure, be a hit with many historical fiction fans....more
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