THE FIRE OF WINTER BY D.K. MARLEY
Publication Date: June 1, 2019
eBook; 355 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
She is known as Lady Macbeth.
What leads her down the path of murder?
What secrets fire her destiny?
Gruah, granddaughter of King Cìnéad III of the Royal Clan Alpin, marries two men in less than six months, one she loves and one she hates; one in secret, the other arranged by the High King of Scotland. At the age of eighteen, she lays her palm upon the ancient stone of Scone and sees her destiny as Queen of Scotland, and she vows to do whatever necessary to see her true love, Macbeth macFindlaech, beside her on the throne.
Amid the fiery times and heated onslaughts from Denmark and England, as the rule of Scotland hangs in the balance, Gruah seeks to win the throne and bring revenge upon the monsters of her childhood, no matter the cost or amount of blood tainting her own hands; yet, an unexpected meeting with the King called the Confessor causes her to question her bloody path and doubt her once blazing pagan faith. Will she find redemption or has the blood of her past fire-branded her soul?
The story weaves the play by William Shakespeare with the actual history of Macbeth and his Queen in 11th-century Scotland.
“…a woman’s story at a winter’s fire…”
(Macbeth, Act III, Scene IV)
“This beautifully written reworking of the Macbeth tale told from Lady Macbeth’s point-of-view flows from the page and you quickly become immersed in the politics and intrigues of feudal Scotland as she fights for her rightful place and her true love! A mesmerizing read that grips from start to finish and Gruah is now one of my all-time favorite literary crushes. “ – Iain Leonard, ARC Reviewer
“Brilliantly conceived and beautifully written, The Fire of Winter is a tale not to be missed by lovers of Shakespeare, lovers of history, or lovers of the written word.” – Riana Everly, Author of Teaching Eliza and Through a Different Lens
My Review
“The Fire of Winter” by D.K. Marley is a retelling of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” told from Lady Macbeth’s perspective. It is also told in a more modern way (without all of the flowery, Old English words and speeches), making it accessible to today’s readers. I am only somewhat familiar with Shakespeare’s original “Macbeth” from reading it in high school. From what I remember, it seems like Ms. Marley stays true to the basic plot, characters and storyline of Shakespeare’s work.
Our main character in “The Fire of Winter” is Gruah (who becomes Lady Macbeth). I love the idea of seeing the story from her perspective and finding out what leads her to commit the awful deeds that she does. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, Gruah can be described as a Slytherin through-and-through. She is power hungry and ambitious, to the point where it becomes an all-consuming obsession and seems to drive her to madness. I find it fascinating that Shakespeare wrote a woman to machinate these elaborate schemes that killed kings and who worked the political system, in a time when women were meant to just provide heirs and stay at home embroidering. Gruah is certainly ahead of her time. She would definitely be a feminist if she were alive today.
I grew anxious as the events unfurled, especially during the nail biting climax (“double, double toil and trouble”)! I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of history and Shakespeare!
Content: This is a general market book. I would rate it PG-13. Some examples of the content are: mention of ale and a man’s loins; a lady says she will be naked in bed; a man talks about bedding a woman; a woman is called a “b****”; “d***” and “hell” are used; “bastard” is used of a child born out of wedlock; a girl was raped in her past: mention of a woman’s breasts; a fade to black sex scene; a woman is raped, not much detail and it’s fade to black.
Rating: I give this book 4 stars.
I want to thank D.K. Marley and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.
About the Author
D. K. Marley is a historical fiction writer specializing in Shakespearean themes. Her grandmother, an English Literature teacher, gave her a volume of Shakespeare’s plays when she was eleven, inspiring DK to delve further into the rich Elizabethan language. Eleven years ago she began the research leading to the publication of her first novel “Blood and Ink,” an epic tale of lost dreams, spurned love, jealousy and deception in Tudor England as the two men, William Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, fight for one name and the famous works now known as the Shakespeare Folio. She is an avid Shakespearean / Marlowan, a member of the Marlowe Society, the Shakespeare Fellowship and a signer of the Declaration of Intent for the Shakespeare Authorship Debate. She has traveled to England three times for intensive research and debate workshops and is a graduate of the intense training workshop “The Writer’s Retreat Workshop” founded by Gary Provost and hosted by Jason Sitzes. She lives in Georgia with her husband and a Scottish Terriers named Maggie and Buster.
Blog Tour Schedule
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour, we are giving away copies of The Fire of Winter + a surprise gift to three lucky winners! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.
Giveaway Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on August 19th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to the US only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.
Direct Link: https://gleam.io/competitions/2IeSS-the-fire-of-winter
Jody Hedlund is the author of over twenty historicals for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Award.
