A review by reanne
Macbeth: A Novel by David Hewson, A.J. Hartley

2.0

I got this because I've enjoyed Alan Cumming's reading of other books, and I did enjoy that aspect of this book. The book itself was an interesting take on the story, and I'm not a Shakespearean purist or anything, so I thought the new twist and format was interesting. However, I didn't enjoy how completely bleak and horrible so much of this book was. There's murder, of course, but that includes the murder of children and innocents and loyal friends. There's a horrible, despicable king who deserves death many times over by the time he finally dies, for things seen and described until that point, including forcing a 12-year-old girl to orally service him while his guards stand by the door laughing at her. There's just so much awfulness in this book that it was really aggravating and depressing to sit and listen to it. So, it's well-written, well-read, and if you really enjoy Macbeth and/or tragedies, you might like it, but I just found it a little too horrible to enjoy. But I'm giving it two stars instead of one because I do enjoy listening to Alan Cumming's reading (and hearing him read a Scottish story was especially nice).