I really wanted to read this because of the link back to Druidic ancestors and I absolutely loved this debut novel; hard to believe this was a debut novel!

This tale was surprising in many ways, it was suspenseful and entirely unputdownable.

If you are a modern reader with a background on one of the characters that Shakespeare originally told then this will be a different interpretation but it’s amazing just the same.

Highly recommend for readers of historical fiction and great story telling!

I loved this book - possibly my favourite of the year so far. A gripping, visceral read that cleverly weaves in aspects of the Shakespeare play and casts the Macbeths (Macbethads) in a whole new light. I'll never look at Duncan in the same way again either!

This is a fascinating look at the story of Gruoch who inspired Shakespeares Lady Macbeth. The possible story of how Gruoch overcame the difficulties of her fathers disinheritance in her quest to become Queen. She has to overcome personal tragedy, witness brutality & murder and cope with disloyalty & betrayal. She is driven by the prophesy of her grandmother but is she following a false dream or can she eventually follow her destiny, & her heart, in the shape of Macbeth.

Wow! My absolute favourite read of the year. A superb account of the historical figure of Lady Macbethad that formed the basis of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. This feminist account brings forth the nobel pagan child and weaves her story from the plight of a child and woman at the mercy of the whims of powerful men to the ambitious and dominant character we know from the play. An engaging and exciting read with pagan undertones and notes of witchcraft, merciless fighting and political unease at court. I could t put this book down #ladymacbethad #isabelleschuler #netgalley

I studied Macbeth at school (pre-GCSE), and I don’t think I was told that it was based on a real historical figure - at least I’ve forgotten in the intervening 30-odd years. All I can remember , is that my English teacher at the time, Mr Jones, asked me to read Lady Macbeth’s part, because he thought I suited it! I’m sure I should have been more insulted than I was, but then I always thought that she had the good part…

Lady MacBethad is the story pre-Macbeth and probably closer to the truth. Shakespeare had his reasons for writing his play the way he did (keeping in with the royals and the fee-paying public, perhaps?), but it seems in reality MacBethad had more of a claim to the throne than Duncan.

This novel is of course from Lady MacBethad’s point of view - but she hasn’t got there yet. In this, she’s Gruoch, or as her grandmother says: “Groa, daughter of Boedhe, son of Coinneach, the rightful King of Alba…You will be the greatest of us all”

Gruoch is brought up in a household where her mother remembers her picti and ancient Druid heritage, but her father, Boedhe, follows the new Christian faith. Gruoch is conflicted. But she does know that she wants to be queen, and will stop at nothing to get there.

She’s so young though, and that does come across in some of her attitude, temper tantrums and opinions. She’s certainly undertaking quite some learning curve.

This was such a readable, immersive story, and I found myself backing Gruoch and wanting to actually help her (she would never have listened). I’ve no doubt this will be one of my favourite books this year - and I do wonder if there will be a sequel? I’d read it!

I’m always fascinated to learn about strong female characters from history, especially those I’m unfamiliar with. It tends to send me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. Lady MacBethad was no different.

Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler reimagines the life of Gruoch – the real life Scottish Queen. As a child, her grandmother prophecies that she will one day be Queen of Alba and reclaim the lands of her Pictish kin. When, many years later, she is betrothed to Duncan, the heir-elect, the prophecy appears to come true.

But when a deadly turn of events forces Gruoch to flee Duncan and the capital, Gruoch finds herself at the mercy of an old enemy.

Her hope of becoming Queen all but lost, Gruoch does what she must to survive, until she is given a choice: live a long, peaceful life but fall into obscurity, or seize her chance for vengeance and a path back to the throne.

I enjoyed this one. It’s a fast paced read, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a heroine who will do whatever it takes to survive and succeed?

The only “negative” for me is that, at times, it seemed to be confused as to whether or not it was YA. In fact, I thought that some scenes could have done with going a little bit further than they did. It’s a story that lends itself to being a little bit darker.

But it’s a good read and I’ll champion any book that introduces a historical Queen to a new audience!

Lady Macbeth is probably one of the most famous wifes and villains in the literature world - especially in plays. I found this to be such an interesting idea of it depicting her early years and showing how she got to where she is when we find her in all her villainour glory. I really enjoyed it

I really enjoyed this take on the story of Lady MacBethad. Schuler has brought that period of Scottish history vividly to life, the rivalries, the religious conflicts, and the ambitions of a variety of characters. Alongside ones that many might be familiar with, there are numerous other well developed characters that add a richness to the story of one woman's total conviction in her destiny. Gruoch is brilliant, both strong and smart, she is also ruthless and determined to achieve what she believes is her right, to be Queen of Alba. You also get a real feel for the young kingdom, the tensions between the old Pictish ways of doing things and the new ways starting to take hold. the plot moves along at a good pace and I genuinely had trouble putting it down. A great story and I really hope there will be another soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gruoch is a compelling protagonist (however most of the surrounding characters remain a little flat) though I think there is too much time focused on the romance subplot when there is much more to explore with her character. My biggest issue with this is that it reads like YA most of the time when the narrative felt like it needed a more complex approach. Given the illusions to Lady Macbeth, the fictional queen inspired by Gruoch I was expecting something a little more dark and mature in tone. Otherwise, it is a fairly gripping read with good pacing

Grouch (the future lady Macbeth) is prophesied by her grandmother that she will be a force to be reckoned with. Interpreting this as a fact that she will become Queen, she lives her life trying to fulfill this prophecy.
The book was good, very well written and the characters had depth to them. But at the end of the day, Grouch is a kid/teenager and she behaves as one, which if one big issue for me (I just can't cope with this type of story). So this is a 3-star read for me, but I acknowledge the "for me" in this specific instance is a big part -- don't fault the author for this. I just couldn't empathize with the characters enough to care about the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book starts as a fascinating read. Being a fan of Shakespeare, and especially Lady Macbeth, I was excited to read it. I suppose I expected too much because it soon turned into a weird story about a stubborn child with delusions of grandeur.

This book was absolutely amazing. I absolutely loved this story and was fully immersed the entire time. The writing style was new to me which I absolutely loved.

This was fine. I love the premise - taking the historical figure who inspired Shakespeare's Lady MacBeth and tracking her story. However, I didn't really gel with any of the characters. It reminded me of the way Livia Drusilla was played in that appalling drama Domina - where she is struggling far more with her own shortcomings and selfish stupidity. Perhaps it's unrealistic to want to see a robust female character who doesn't stumble through her teens/ early intrigues and maybe the intention is to humanise them. But that's never going to be the reason I pick up this sort of book. Show me flaws but make them competent. (I should say that I may well have 'feminist retelling' fatigue as well. I really want more historical female voices brought forth but merely writing from a female perspective does not make something feminist and it wouldn't necessarily be more interesting if it was. Just let us be people. ) So overall, an interesting book but it didn't fully land for me.

A prequel to 'the Scottish play'; Gruoch's story of how she became the real Lady Macbeth(ad). A gripping tale of early Scotland, a game of thrones without the dragons, although I wouldn't have been surprised if one had turned up somewhere. A most enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley.

This book tells the story of Lady Macbeth’s origins, her life before she became Lady MacBeth. Born into the family of a deposed King, Grouch is told by her grandmother that she is destined for immortality, that her name won’t be forgotten. Grouch takes this to mean that she will be Queen, and everything she does is driven by this belief. While I can admire her drive and ambition, and her refusal to bend to how medieval society expected women to behave, the problem is that she is a petty, vindictive, vain, and hypocritical character, she is allowed to do whatever it takes for her to become Queen but she believes that everyone else around her should do exactly what she wants even when it doesn’t benefit them. I was hoping for a more sympathetic character, than the one Shakespeare gave us but in this story I found myself more drawn to MacBeth.

Lady Macbethad portrays a suggested background to the famous Scottish play. Its quite rare to find historical fiction from this era and i've always loved a bit of Shakespeare  so I was intrigued by this book!

It tells the story of Gruoch, daughter of Boede, an Alban Prince and Ailith, who was descended from Picti druids. Once she was married Gruoch''s mother was told to denounce her pagan ways in favour of Christianity. However, once a year the mother and daughter visited Ailith's druid mother, who lived ina remote part of Scotland still practised pagan religion and celebrated the druid festivals.

At one of these festivals Gruoch's grandmother prophesised that she would be a queen and would be immortalised and that she must survive, whatever happens. This prophecy was to shape her future and influenced her decisions as she grew up.

This is a fascinating story of strong women, struggling to survive in a  male dominated society, influenced heavily by power struggles and religion.

This is a fairly light read for historical fiction but has the right element of detail, mixed with a bit of blood, gore, sex and romance to appeal to readers! I really enjoyed this book!

The lady behind Shakespeare's Macbeth. With her interesting family history and upbringing, this book had me intrigued from the very beginning. With driving ambition and very set goals, she would stop at nothing.

This was a really compelling look at the early life of Lady MacBeth, charting her journey to one of the most famous Shakespearean villains. The prose was accessible and lyrical, which really cemented the story in the time period. What I mean by this is that the parts of the book that dealt with druidic and pagan practices felt whimsical and otherworldly, whereas the parts that dealt with court politics felt very grounded. I thought the author did a great job at making Gruoch a sympathetic figure without denying her all of the fire and ambition that we see in the Shakespeare play and I liked the interplay in the relationship between Duncan, Gruoch and MacBethad. All in all, I thought this was a very accomplished and enjoyable debut novel and I am interested to see what the author comes up with next.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is a masterpiece, the storytelling is beautiful , there is so much detail in the prose showing Scotland of the past as a place of beauty as well as darkness and constant threats, war and battles. From the very first page I knew this would be a fascinating read. I was not wrong at all and this was such an intriguing and fast paced story, one I didn’t want to end. Highly recommended

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Not for me, I am in the minority here as moist reviews give five stars.
Book is well written.
Gruoch has a difficult life,through her unusual upbringing with a pagan Mother and a Christian Father, she learns to be devious and cunning. When her future is foretold by her Grandmother, she strives to see it fulfilled, by lying, murder and intrigue. For me her only saving grace was her love for her son. Gruoch let's her ambition rule over everything and everyone else.
I would have liked more domestic detail, daily life, food, clothing etc.
Thank you NetGalley and Isabelle for this ARP