A Quick Brew Before We Begin
Shakespeare retellings are one of my favourite kinds of escape. They feel like sitting down with an old friend — familiar, comforting — and then suddenly realising that friend has secrets you’ve never heard before. They let us revisit characters we thought we understood and ask: What if their story had been written differently?
So when Ava Reid announced a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, arguably Shakespeare’s most misread and mistreated woman, I poured a fresh coffee and settled in. I expected darkness. I expected ambition. I expected defiance. What I found instead was something quieter, more gothic, and far more entangled in the grip of patriarchy than I anticipated.
Reimagining a Misunderstood Woman
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is a blazing force — ambitious, grieving, and psychologically fractured. As Helen Flint argues in her BBC article “Why Lady Macbeth is literature’s most misunderstood villain,” her hunger for power emerges from loss and love, not cruelty. She is a woman trying to seize control in a world determined to silence her.
Reid nods to this complexity, but her reimagining shifts the power dynamic dramatically. Roscille begins as determined and self-possessed, but Macbeth, rather than being influenced by her, gradually becomes the manipulator — the puppet master.
This role reversal is bold, but unsettling. It reframes the regicide itself: in Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth drives the action; in Reid’s novel, Roscille becomes the hand that acts while Macbeth becomes the voice behind her shoulder. It’s a clever commentary on how patriarchy controls women’s stories — but it also softens one of literature’s most radical female figures.
Power, Patriarchy, and the Fourth Witch That Could Have Been
Reid’s world is thick with superstition, fear, and the ever-present threat of witchcraft. Women who step outside their prescribed roles are punished, whispered about, or branded “unnatural.”
The idea that Lady Macbeth could become the fourth witch is one of the most tantalising threads in the novel. It hints at female collectivity, rebellion, and resistance. But it remains only a whisper — a spark that never fully ignites.
It’s atmospheric, moody, and gorgeously written… but part of me craved more fury. More challenge. More fire.
The Language: Lush, Gothic, and Laced With Shakespeare
Reid’s prose is undeniably stunning — lyrical, dark, and immersive.
Fans of the original play will delight in moments where Shakespeare’s language flickers through the text:
- “Bellona’s bridegroom”
- “no man of woman born”
These references feel like secret passwords for those who know the play inside out. They honour the source material without being heavy-handed.
If You Enjoy…
This book will be for you if you like:
- atmospheric, gothic retellings
- feminist interpretations of historical women
- stories about grief, ambition, and power
- rich, sensory prose
- complex heroines navigating rigid patriarchal worlds
Final Thoughts
Finishing this novel left me thinking about how we talk about Shakespeare’s women — especially the ones who don’t fit neatly into virtue or victimhood. Lady Macbeth is powerful because she refuses the script written for her; Roscille’s tragedy lies in how tightly she is bound by it.
Both have value. Both provoke thought. But if you come to this book expecting the sharp, defiant Lady M who demanded to be “unsexed,” you may find her fire dimmed. What you’ll find instead is a haunting, sorrowful exploration of how patriarchy reshapes a woman’s ambition into something monstrous — or something muted.
☕ Coffee Campfire Reflection
Reading Lady Macbeth felt like listening to a ghost story told beside the fire — full of atmosphere, shadows, and slow-burning unease. I admired the prose and the moments of female solidarity, but part of me missed the raw defiance of Shakespeare’s original.
Campfire Rating: 🔥🔥🔥✨ (3.5/5)
Beautifully written, rich in mood, and full of promise — but flickers where it could have roared.
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