The Fire of Winter
by D.K. Marley
Publication Date: June 1, 2019
eBook; 355 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
She is known as Lady Macbeth.
What leads her down the path of murder?
What secrets fire her destiny?
Gruah, 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 eighteen, 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 mesmerizing 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
Amazon | IndieBound
About the Author
D. K. Marley is a historical fiction writer specializing in Shakespearean themes. Her grandmother, an English Literature teacher, gave her a volume of Shakespeare’s plays when she was eleven, inspiring DK to delve further into the rich Elizabethan language. Eleven years ago she began the research leading to the publication of her first novel “Blood and Ink,” an epic tale of lost dreams, spurned love, jealousy and deception in Tudor England as the two men, William Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, fight for one name and the famous works now known as the Shakespeare Folio. She is an avid Shakespearean / Marlowan, a member of the Marlowe Society, the Shakespeare Fellowship and a signer of the Declaration of Intent for the Shakespeare Authorship Debate. She has traveled to England three times for intensive research and debate workshops and is a graduate of the intense training workshop “The Writer’s Retreat Workshop” founded by Gary Provost and hosted by Jason Sitzes. She lives in Georgia with her husband and a Scottish Terriers named Maggie and Buster.
For more information, please visit D.K. Marley’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Blog Tour Schedule
Monday, July 22
Review & Guest Post at Gwendalyn’s Books
Tuesday, July 23
Review at Amy’s Booket List
Wednesday, July 24
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit
Friday, July 26
Feature at Words and Peace
Monday, July 29
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Tuesday, July 30
Excerpt at The Order of the White Boar
Thursday, August 1
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books
Friday, August 2
Guest Post at Let Them Read Books
Monday, August 5
Review at Jorie Loves A Story
Tuesday, August 6
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Thursday, August 8
Review at Coffee and Ink
Review at Faery Tales Are Real
Saturday, August 10
Interview at Jorie Loves A Story
Monday, August 12
Review at A Book Geek
Tuesday, August 13
Guest Post at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Wednesday, August 14
Feature at Just One More Chapter
Friday, August 16
Review at Impressions in Ink
Review at Book Reviews from Canada
Monday, August 19
Excerpt at Broken Teepee
Review at Passages to the Past
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour, we are giving away copies of The Fire of Winter + a surprise gift to three lucky winners! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.
Giveaway Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on August 19th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to the US only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.
This sounds like a great read! Thanks for sharing!
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You are welcome
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Sounds like a fascinating read. I recently read Jo Nesbo’s book Macbeth, which is set in Norway in a dystopian future. Macbeth is put in the police world. I was quite fascinated how Nesbo put the Shakespeare story in this setting. Should be interesting to read it from Madame Macbeth’s view.
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I have never dared venture in Jo Nesbo’s books. Maybe I should start with this one you mention
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I don’t think you should start with Macbeth. I have a feeling it is not a typical Nesbö. Try one of his others. I will do the same.
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So which one would you recommend instead?
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I think his most famous books are the Harry Hole series. I think they are all readable in any order, but sometimes I like to start from the beginning. It is The Bat. I have The Leopard in on my shelves, not yet read. I started reading it but the murder in the beginning was so terrible I could not continue. However, one day (soon?) I will read it.
I find a lot of thrillers today have far too brutal murders, especially, the Scandinavian ones. How nice is it not with a little bit of Agatha Christie touch?
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Thanks for the recommendation!
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No reflection on you or this book but… I hate the look of the woman on the cover. She looks like a 21st century gal who got dressed up for a Medieval festival. Sorry!
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I totally agree. I want to run away from books because of the covers. I read some great books, because I had to, but if I had the choice, I would have passed away from these great books because of the cover! By the way, this is just a spotlight for a tour, I haven’t read it, and am not planning to, because of time constraints at this point.
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So that’s a very romanticised picture on the cover – I don’t think they quite had false eyelashes and eye liner in those days 🙂
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I know, sometimes the cover makes you run away from great books
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thats so true
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alas
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