The Fire of Winter

By: D. K. Marley

Narrated by: Aileen Archer

Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

She is known as Lady Macbeth. What leads her down the path of murder? What secrets fire her destiny?

Gruah, the 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 18, 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 mezmerising 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)

©2019 D. K. Marley (P)2020 D. K. Marley

He/she who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for him/herself.

A novel was written beautifully and easy to understand (except that the voice talent has an accent, and sometimes I need to rewind just hear her clearly). A beautiful retold of a person who has consumed by power and vengeance and how every life is destroyed during the process.

when plans succeed what happens

You can't help but admire Gruah. She was a woman before her time. She was a planner and executed it step by step to achieve her goals methodically. She gave no thought to others wants and needs. She had a singular vision and woe to anyone standing on her path. It was never enough. I liked her for most of the story, but then she turned demented and ruthless. smh. Great story. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job.

From Lady Macbeth's perspective

As part of my final school exams, I studied Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Even then I wondered about the characters that played a central role but only so much were known about them.

This book gave me a look into the everyday lives of those role players. What were their hopes and dreams and what lead them onto the path they chose.

Written from Lady M (Grua's) perspective, this book let's you understand the history of the time period, the families, friends and foes and how they all interlink. How superstitions were still clung to although the Christian faith was gaining a better foothold and how that influenced the world on the British Isle.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves history and would like to experience this well-known story from the view of the leading lady.

Very well written and an excellent performance. I just thought that the laugh in some instances should have been less of a cackle.

Too Slow for Me

I am a huge anglophile and I wanted to love this book as a lover of history and Shakespeare. I found that it got too bogged down in the history of the era (to the point where I had to stop and look up information in order to understand what was happening).

I received this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Great new thinkings

I like to read about a story from other perspective or from other view in general, this story is great written, I have really enjoyed it

And the Narrator did also a fantastic job, I enjoyed to listen

I have the series and this audio book is amazing.

If you guys could add sound to it that would be amazing. The narrative was awesome. The book was amazing and keep up the good work.