From the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning comes a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her.
The Lady knows the stories: that her eyes induce madness in men.
The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.
The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of survival, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.
But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armour. She does not know that her magic is greater, and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.
She does not know this yet. But she will.
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Fantasy literature often draws upon folklore and historical mythology to examine sociopolitical tensions, a tradition central to the young adult fantasy novel A Study in Drowning. Ava Reid entered the publishing world with dark speculative fiction that weaves folklore, academic rivalries, and institutional power dynamics into narrative frameworks across both young adult and adult fantasy genres.
Ava Reid was born in Manhattan and raised across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey. She earned a degree in political science from Barnard College, where her academic research focused on religion and ethnonationalism. Prior to becoming a full-time novelist, her professional background included work for a refugee resettlement organization, service in the office of a United States senator, and employment at an artificial intelligence robotics startup. Her academic study of religious and national identity directly informs the political systems and ideological conflicts present in her fiction, which has been published in over fourteen territories. Reid has lived in Palo Alto as well as the New York area.
Reid's writing frequently explores the intersection of myth, historical conflict, and gender dynamics through dark, atmospheric fantasy. Drawing upon fairytales such as those of the Brothers Grimm alongside Eastern European and regional folklore, her stories examine institutional corruption, religious fervor, and the survival of marginalized characters within hostile social structures. Her works range from gothic dark fantasy to dystopian young adult fiction, characterized by detailed worldbuilding, moral ambiguity, and a strong thematic focus on mythmaking and personal agency.
