In Queen Macbeth, Val McDermid reimagines one of Shakespeare's most famous plays Macbeth by bringing Lady Macbeth out of the shadows and placing her centre stage. The novella centres women first and foremost, and that begins with McDermid restoring Lady Macbeth's historic identity and giving back her name: Gruoch.
The plot of the novella flows seamlessly between past and present timelines, with memories of Gruoch's love story with Macbeth and her struggle to survive in the present being hunted as Queen Macbeth. The novella is also structured without chapters drawing us directly into Gruoch's thoughts and memories as we feel the full brunt of her emotions.
McDermid is passionate in providing accuracy to the Scottish elements of the play in her vivid description of Medieval Scotland. This is greatly helped with the accompanying glossary at the back of the book grounding the reader in the realities of the story.
The part where I believe the novella really shines is its depiction of women and its portrayal of female friendship and solidarity. This particularly resonated with me. Gruoch is surrounded by her three companions in her journey: Ligach, Aife, and Eithne. However, as the reader progresses through the story we see that they are more than companions they are her advisors, protectors, they are her friends whose loyalty helps to keep her through her darkest moments.
The relationship between these women is what holds the story together and gives it its emotional depth. Each woman brings her own skills as a healer, a baker, a seer. The novella gives them agency rather than reducing them to their stereotypes which they would fulfil as the three witches in Medieval times (due to one having knowledge of herbs, and the other two in a lesbian relationship). It is through these friendships, where Gruoch becomes more than Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth and becomes a woman whose courage the reader can only hope to see in themselves.
Queen Macbeth holds a mirror up to this world that is shaped by powerful, ambitious men that hold no regard for women, Val McDermid reminds us that our survival often depends on the strength in which we find in the women surrounding us.
Reviewed By Samira Jama (Visitor Operations Assistant)
