Queen MacBeth

William Shakespeare wrote many 'historical dramas' which used the name of a famous person but usually completely distorted the facts of events when he wrote the plot. No problem except that some people believe that the story in the play must be true - for example the events portrayed by Shakespeare in the play Richard III [written for a Tudor audience], and his description of Richard, were believed to be the truth for centuries.

In the novella Queen Macbeth, Val McDermid sets out to portray the story of Gruoch ingen Boite who married Macbethad mac Findlaích (Macbeth). The story is told in alternate sections - one section is the story of Gruoch's early life and how she met Macbethad while the other section is an account of current events in her life. Much information about Macbeth and his family has disappeared over time but Val McDermid has attempted to include some of the known facts in this work of historical fiction.

A major scene in Shakespeare's play is the death of an elderly Duncan when he visited the castle and was killed by the Macbeths, however Duncan (1001 - 1040) was killed in a battle against Macbeth's men. A number of other well known names - Malcolm and MacDuff - appear in the book though once again events and time frames vary from history.

Queen Macbeth is part of Darkland Tales where a series of Scottish authors rewrite stories from Scotland's history, myths and legends.