Six Degrees of Separation: Long Island to Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles.

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

The starting point for this month is Long Island by Colm Toibin. 

I wasn't really sure which direction I wanted to go this month. There are always options, but in the end I decided to spin off of the word island and chose  Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.

Elif Shafak has recently released a new book called There are Rivers in the Sky so this is my next choice.

From there I am taking the word sky and choose He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters, which is part of the Amelia Peabody series set in Egypt.

I could have gone in several directions, but I have chosen to use the first name of the author, Elizabeth and I picked To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick

Using the word King, I have chosen Lady Macbeth by Susan Frazer King. When we were in Scotland we heard a bit about Macbeth, about how he was a real king although some of the other history was incorrect, and along with how historically incorrect the move Braveheart was.

Another historical figure we heard a lot about was Mary Queen of Scots so I have chosen the book by Margaret George about her, Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. I would say that almost brings me to back full circle to our starting point!

Next month, the starting point is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Whereas I normally think of a starting book pretty much straight away, I am coming up blank so far. Good job I have a month to think of something.

Six Degrees of Separation: Shuggie Bain to A Rose for the Crown

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

I decided to make this exercise a bit harder for myself this month because I knew the starting point, and I knew where I wanted to end up. Normally, you just see where you end up, but by having the end in mind meant that it took me a few attempts to get from point A to point B, but I got there in the end!

The starting point this month is Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart which is a book I don't see myself reading any time soon. What I did know about that book is that it is set in Scotland.

The Shakespeare play Macbeth is often known as the Scottish play, so my next link is Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King which I read an enjoyed many years ago because you can't get more Scottish than that really.

A more recent read about a Scottish woman is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Moving away fromm Scotland, this time I am linking with the name Eleanor. Eleanor of Aquitaine  was queen of both England and France, the only woman in history to hold both of these titles. There are a number of books about her I could have chosen but I have chosen to use The Autumn Throne by Elizabeth Chadwick as my title. This is the final book in a trilogy about Eleanor.

Eleanor is part of the Plantagenet dynasty from whom the houses of Lancaster and York derived. In turn these were the two sides of the War of the Roses, which was part of the inspiration for A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin.

From fantasy inspired by the War of the Roses, I am turning back to history with The Rose of  York: Love and War by Sandra Worth. This is a story about Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his wife, Lady Anne Neville.

Another book about Richard, who eventually became Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet kings is A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith, which is where I wanted to end up because, well, it is Easter Sunday!

Next month's starting point is Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.

Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King

I am granddaughter to a king and daughter to a prince, a wife twice over, a queen as well. I have fought with sword and bow, and
struggled fierce to bear my babes into this world.
I have loved deeply and hated deeply, too.


Lady Gruadh, called Rue, is the last female descendent of Scotland’s most royal line. Married to a powerful northern lord, she is widowed while still carrying his child and forced to marry her husband’s murderer: a rising war-lord named Macbeth. Encountering danger from Vikings, Saxons, and treacherous Scottish lords, Rue begins to respect the man she once despised–and then realizes that Macbeth’s complex ambitions extend beyond the borders of the vast northern region. Among the powerful warlords and their steel-games, only Macbeth can unite Scotland–and his wife’s royal blood is the key to his ultimate success.

Determined to protect her small son and a proud legacy of warrior kings and strong women, Rue invokes the ancient wisdom and secret practices of her female ancestors as she strives to hold her own in a warrior society. Finally, side by side as the last Celtic king and queen of Scotland, she and Macbeth must face the gathering storm brought on by their combined destiny.

From towering crags to misted moors and formidable fortresses, Lady Macbeth transports readers to the heart of eleventh-century Scotland, painting a bold, vivid portrait of a woman much maligned by history.

For most people, the main thing that would be associated with the name Lady Macbeth are the following words from Shakespeare:

Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then'tis time to do't.—Hell is

murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, andafeard? What need we fear who knows it,
when none can call ourpow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man
tohave had so much blood in him?

If you pick up this book expecting to see anything like this, you are bound to be disappointed, but if you are interested in finding out some of the historical background to this particular character then this could be the book for you.

Lady Gruad is born into the Royal family of Scotland making her a very desirable marriage match due to her pure bloodlines. After being kidnapped twice, once when she is very nearly of marriagable age, her father decides that it is time to marry her off, and she is married to Gilcomgan of Moray against her wishes. A relatively short time after, Rue is heavily pregnant when she is widowed. Her husband has been killed by Macbeth in one of the many power struggles that dominated the Scottish political scene in the late 11th century, and particularly in revenge for the murder of Macbeth's father by Gilcomgan. Macbeth himself is descended from King Duncan, and so when he forces Rue to marry him immediately following her first husband's death (all spoils to the victor!) he bolsters his own claim to the throne of Scotland even though his grandfather the King has named another as his successor in a break from the traditional way that the kings of Scotland have been chosen.

By marrying Rue, Macbeth becomes Mormaer of Moray, a powerful and rich lord, but it is through his efforts to be a fair and generous ruler to his people that he gains their loyalty. For a long time he is prepared to not make any challenges to the throne, but when his life and those of his young family are threatened things change, and Macbeth becomes King of Scotland and Rue his queen.

There are many details of life in Scotland in 11th century within the book: the struggle for peace with both the Vikings and the English, the struggle between the Church in Rome and the Celtic church as well as weaving in many superstitions, omens and spells.

It was interesting to read the life of a Queen who involved herself in her husband's life to such an extent as Rue did, including in policy making, and it is inferred within the novel that the two came to value and respect each other, and yes perhaps love each other. There were however still plenty of examples where she was left behind and it is in those times that we begin to see how much Rue is affected by the portents and omens that she can see, and how it effects the decisions that she makes for the future, and in particular how determined she becomes to protect the old ways of life.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, it didn't quite make it to the status of a great read for me. I never felt truly immersed in the book. Part of the reason for this may be the first person narrative, but I don't think that it was the only factor. For much of the time I was outside of the book. In my favourite HF novels, I would be there with the characters, wrapped in furs trying to keep warm in the middle of a harsh Scottish winter, but with this book I was still firmly in the 21st century looking back through a window of time.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry