The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Summary

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER


'Channelling the dark magic at the heart of one of Shakespeare's most intriguing anti-heroes, this reimagining of Lady Macbeth is full of witchcraft, deadly power games, dark schemes, supernatural elements, and a touch of romance.'
Cosmopolitan

'A gargantuan hit...Dark and brooding, skillful storytelling and intricate character development breathe new life into literature's most enigmatic character. Dripping in atmosphere...One to order immediately.'
Glamour

'Ava Reid has done it again in this gothic, atmospheric reclamation of the story of Lady Macbeth.'
Vaishnavi Patel, New York Times bestselling author of Kaikeyi

'A triumph of a retelling.'
Shelley Parker-Chan, bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

-----

Fair is foul and foul is fair.


From the Sunday Times bestselling author of A STUDY IN DROWNING comes a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her.

The Lady knows the stories: that her eyes induce madness in men.

The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.

The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of survival, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.

But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armour. She does not know that her magic is greater, and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.

She does not know this yet. But she will.

Reviews

  • Reid takes one of Shakespeare's most interesting antiheroes and endows her with vulnerability, power and depth: a protagonist who's neither flower nor serpent, but something both more magical and more human. This is a darkly gorgeous feast of a book, rich with irony and invention. I was spellbound from the very first page.
    Freya Marske, bestselling author of The Last Binding trilogy

About the author

Ava Reid

Ava Reid is the Sunday Times and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning, Juniper & Thorn and The Wolf and the Woodsman. She has a degree in political science from Barnard College and lives in New Jersey.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more