Though not overly interested in something as heavy and dark as the story of Macbeth, I am intrigued by the audio version of the book, “Macbeth: A Novel” by A.J. Hartley and David Hewson, simply because Scottish actor Alan Cumming is doing the narration. As he says in the video, “It’s the one Shakespeare play, of all the Shakespeare’s, that actually should be spoken in a Scottish accent.”

The novel is a reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s play that fleshes out the characters and relationships and adds detail to the plots and political background.

Cumming is also the star of the National Theatre of Scotland “Macbeth” production set in a psychiatric hospital where he plays a patient channeling the story of Macbeth.

For more extracts visit David Hewson’s website.