Susan Fraser King's "Queen Hereafter"

Susan Fraser King is a multi-published, bestselling, award-winning author and a former art history lecturer. She holds a B.A. in art and an M.A. and most of a Ph.D. in art history, with postgraduate work in medieval studies. Her books are widely praised for historical detail and a lyrical writing style, and she has won multiple honors and awards for her novels.

Here she shares some casting ideas for adaptations of her novels Lady Macbeth and Queen Hereafter:

I have to include two novels for this question, as they’re related books! Here goes:

If they made my novel Lady Macbeth into a movie... Gruadh, a young, strong, spirited Celtic queen, would be perfectly rendered by Keira Knightley or Sophia Miles, who would each bring a different but illuminating quality to the young queen; Ewan McGregor would be a great Macbeth, a blunt yet savvy warrior in his prime, as portrayed in the novel, and Ryan Reynolds could do that too, provided he could do a suitable British or even Scottish accent!

For Margaret of Scotland in Queen Hereafter, I’d choose Nicole Kidman; though she is a bit older than Margaret in the novel, she would be perfect for the role otherwise. She blends fragile and stubborn beautifully, and Margaret is said to have been tall and fair and was likely quite intense. Gerard Butler could pull off King Malcolm Canmore’s gruff, blustering, coarse but intelligent character. For Eva the bard, dark-haired, sensitive yet tough, I'd choose Kristen Stewart or Keira Knightley again, as she plays historical young women with backbone so very well.

Learn more about the books and author at Susan Fraser King's website.

Writers Read: Susan Fraser King.

The Page 69 Test: Queen Hereafter.

--Marshal Zeringue