Lady Macbeth's Daughter

by Lisa Klein

Overview

Raised by three strange sisters, Albia has never known the secrets of her parentage. But when Macbeth seeks out the weird sisters to foretell his fate, his life is entangled with his unknown daughter's. When Albia foresees the terrible future, she becomes determined to save Macbeth's rival-and the man she loves-from her murderous father. Klein's seamlessly drawn tale makes it seem impossible that Albia was not part of Shakespeare's original play.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599906232
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/28/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
File size:	526 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

LISA KLEIN is the author of Lady Macbeth's Daughter, Two Girls of Gettysburg, and Ophelia. A former professor of English, she lives in Ohio with her family.
www.authorlisaklein.com
LISA KLEIN is the author of Lady Macbeth's Daughter, Two Girls of Gettysburg, and Ophelia. A former professor of English, she lives in Ohio with her family. www.authorlisaklein.com

Editorial Reviews

Gr 8 Up—This reworking of Macbeth is told in alternating points of view by Albia, Macbeth's daughter, and Grelach, her mother and Macbeth's wife. Because Albia is born with a crippled foot, Macbeth orders that she be killed. Grelach's servant rescues her, and she is raised by Rhuven's sisters. Albia grows up ignorant of her true heritage, believing herself to be Geillis's daughter. She realizes that she has second sight, and she begins to foresee terrifying, bloody events that are to come. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, Geillis sends her to be fostered by Banquo and his family. As the Scottish kingdom falls into even greater disorder under Macbeth's tyranny, Albia finds out the truth about her birth, and she must decide if she should use her gifts to overthrow her father and help bring order to the realm once again. A number of sections of the book are based directly on scenes from the play. This is a strong feminist reenvisioning of the original that raises issues about the treatment and social positions of women at the time. Grelach, Lady Macbeth, is far more sympathetic than in Shakespeare's version, and Albia is a compelling character who fights for the good of her country and refuses to allow anyone to use her as a political pawn. Klein has gone to historical sources predating Shakespeare's primary source, Holinshed's Chronicles, and has restored some of the history Shakespeare changed, most notably by including the character of Luoch, Grelach's son by her first husband. A great choice for teen book groups.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

School Library Journal

As she did with Ophelia (2006), Klein turns a Shakespeare play on its head with a combination of feisty female lead and careful historical research. Inspired by the fact that Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth references nursing, the author creates cast-off daughter Albia, loved by the lady but scorned by Macbeth and raised in secret by three sisters-yes, those three. The novel is permeated with the question of responsibility: Is it the Weird Sisters, whose words spur Macbeth's crimes? Macbeth himself? Lady Macbeth? And what is Albia's responsibility, to herself and to Scotland, given her ancestry and power? Lady Macbeth narrates some of the tale, and while this moves the action, she is a murky character. She goads Macbeth but regrets his actions, mourns her daughter while neglecting her son (by a previous husband); indeed, she is as confused and confusing as the original. Fortunately Albia's engaging voice and struggles with her burgeoning psychic powers and with the truth of her parentage-plus her growing love for Fleance-make for a fast read with literary overtones. (Historical fantasy. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews