‘’I did not ask to be queen but I did look for the right to be so and the way the times turned around me, it amounted to the same thing.’’

I am ashamed to admit that my TBR shelf is full of Joanna Courtney’s works, but for unfathomable reasons, it is only now that I decided to start my journey into the exciting world of her novels with a book that aims to shed some necessary light into the real life of the woman we have come to know as ‘’Lady Macbeth’’.

Shakespeare is my life but there is no doubt that he did Lady Macbeth dirty so several novels are coming out to set things straight and I am here for it.

The synopsis is adequate so I won’t waste your time. What will you find in this novel? You will find the reason why Historical Fiction is a genre that can conquer the heart of a serious reader. You will find not ONE remarkable heroine but two. Yes, Cora is the heart of the novel but Sibyll is no less wonderful and what a joy it is for a writer to be able to make a reader root for both (opposing) sides at the same time. You will find noble men, men of valour and courage, you will find men whose actions seem to confuse treachery for love, you will find fiends and heroes.

You will read beautiful paragraphs, you will enjoy dialogue that is vivid, realistic and sensitive without becoming pretentious. You will find women who do not behave like men to appear strong. You will find the hard work of a writer who didn’t want to cancel or massacre Shakespeare. You will find no DOWN WITH THE PATRIARCHY nonsense targeted to pour honey into the ears of dirty, illiterate neo-leftists and misguided pseudo-feminists.

You will find Historical Fiction done to perfection.

And I adored the notes in the end. THAT is how Historical Fiction is done and I cannot wait to start another novel by Joanna Courtney. ( )