Book Review: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

‘Lady MacBeth’ by Ava Reid was published in 2024. It is her fourth novel, and explores the Shakespearean figure that is Lady Macbeth and her power and influence over her husband in ‘Macbeth’.

I had been looking forward to reading this since it was announced. The story of Macbeth was one of my favourite Shakespeare tragedies. I loved how this book provided insight into how Lady Macbeth came to be, from her marriage to Macbeth onwards.

I loved looking at her character as a scared child, as opposed to a wicked, canniving woman that manipulated her husband. This scared child was actually a girl of seventeen, named Roscille, who was betrothed to Macbeth as an insurance of the alliance her father forged with him and the wild clansmen of Scotland.

Instead of being an ambitious, murderous woman, Roscille is a lot more nuanced. She fears being a wife, she resists her marriage bed and gives Macbeth impossible challenges to overcome to keep him far from her. She wants to avoid pregnancy and the potential death sentence it can be, and does not want to be lorded over and dominated. She wants to be her own person.

Except, her plans end up blowing up in her face, and unbeknownst to her, were schemes pre-determined. The three witches’ prophecy foretold that Macbeth would become the Thane of Cawdor, and thus, her mission to send him there with the intent of him failing to survive the conquest.

I loved the changes to this story. I felt like the ways that Reid was able to manipulate the tale to make it even more morbid and sad were very powerful. I found that her decision to change where Macbeth sought the three witches from on his way back from a battlefield to being held captive within his own home, shackled to the foundations, blind and forced into servitude. This being a parallel to Roscille’s own experience as a married woman, being forced to abandon her own wants and dreams.

I have seen critiques of this book, indicating that Reid’s choice to make Macbeth the one that manipulates his young wife being detrimental to the story, and while I understand why having Roscille be a young, scared, woman as opposed to a manipulative puppeteer, shackled by her gender, allowed Reid to tell a story about a woman who found a different kind of power through being seen as a monster, and a creature, by another otherworldly, cursed creature, her love interest. It was so powerful, and while I understand that this story could have been told without telling the story of Macbeth, by making reference to a character that is so iconic, Reid is able to utilise a reader’s prior knowledge and subvert their preconceptions. –

If you are a stickler for a loyal interpretation of Shakespeare, perhaps this book isn’t for you, but if you’re willing to let a story whisk you away and let yourself forget some of the details, and be suspended in disbelief, then this could be your new favourite book. It’s witchy, powerful, and intimate, exploring themes of power, loneliness and what it means to be cruel. I really enjoyed it.