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For Book Clubs and Teachers
Upon the Corner of the Moon discussion questions
1. Why do you think the author decided to begin Upon the Corner of the Moon with the childhoods of the main characters?
2. Scotland is the setting for many historical novels and films. In what ways does this book meet your expectations—or completely change your understanding?
3. In this time and place, it was routine for noble children to be sent to another, usually more powerful, family for fostering. What would be the advantages? What does this do to a child's idea of family and sense of belonging?
4. Do you think Gruach's fostering prepares her for eventual life at court?
5. There's an ongoing theme of language, of written text versus memory, and what is held to be true. In what ways do words have power in this story?
6. If you know the play, then you quickly recognize some names, but the characters and their motivations are quite different. How did that feel as you read? Did you hear Shakespeare as well?
7. History is based on who wrote the stories, and which stories survive. The Picts were described as naked, tattooed barbarians by the Romans who could not conquer them. How much can we rely on historical accounts? Do we see such denigration of enemies repeated through the centuries?
8. Kinship and family were and are central to the Scottish people—how is this both a source of unity and the cause of violence?
9. How are Macbeth's family loyalties tested?
10. In this time period, Scotland was known as Alba—a multiethnic society of Picts, Scots, Norse, Danes, British, and Angles. In what ways does Malcolm II try to unite the kingdom? Are they productive or counterproductive?
11. Gruach is raised in an ancient tradition where women shape power both spiritual and secular. What are her strategies when she's thrust into a patriarchal society?
12. At the beginning of the second millennium, Alba was thinly settled and had neither cities nor coinage. How does the economy work?
13. Gruach's forced marriage to Gillecomgan has left her scarred physically and mentally. How does that affect her view of life and her meeting with the man who had been the focus of her childish romantic visions?
14. Columba's conversion of King Brude and the Picts began the integration of that earlier British population with the Gaelic-speaking Scots. The Picts did not die out, yet they disappeared from history. What do you think happened?
15. Lapwing is quite the strange character, a believer in the older godsbrought from Éireann. What is his role in the story?
16. Alba was geographically at the edge of Europe. How is it also part of a wider society? What other nations have an impact on this remote place?
17. Given Macbeth's education by a monk and Gruach's by a devotee of the Goddess, what do you anticipate for their marriage in the second book?
18. Part II of this story will follow Macbeth's rise and reign, with Gruach by his side. What kinds of challenges do you think they might face?
Reviews and information
If you are requesting my books from libraries, they sometimes ask for reviews and ordering information, so I've compiled this fact sheet for people who may be considering In the Lonely Backwater for library collections, book clubs, or classroom resource. I've included excerpts from reviews and ordering information.
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR UPON THE CORNER OF THE MOON
The journey of the Macbeths is not the famed and false one of Shakespeare, but a mixture of both their true and imagined place in Scotland's history… The writing is beautiful, lyrical, and descriptive, and it captures the period perfectly. To say this book is well-researched is an understatement. Highly recommended. Historical Novels Review
"Pagan rituals, visions and prophecies; commingling of myth, religion and history; poets, princes and perpetually plotting monarchs; sibling rivalry; siege and conquest. In her new novel Upon the Corner of the Moon (Regal House, 2025), veteran North Carolina writer Valerie Nieman uses all this rich material—and more—to penetrate the backstory of two of Shakespeare's most famous co-protagonists, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It's an amazing tour de force combining a fictional imagination honed over a long career alongside meticulous scholarship...While the book is dense with meaning, character and event, the story of Alba, off to a grand start, has only begun. Book One ends powerfully, with events that will resonate throughout the next volume. Such is the magnitude of the story Nieman's undertaken that, with her powers at their peak, the climactic coming events will shake the very heavens. As a result, we might never see or read Shakespeare's masterpiece in quite the same way. Southern Literary Review
She transports readers into the bleak chaos of eleventh-century Scotland, still reeling from the trauma of Viking raids and the power vacuum lingering after the fall of the Roman Empire. Various rulers, warriors, priests, and mystics are caught up in endlessly shifting alliances, dynasty altering betrayals, and ruthless attempts to consolidate power. Amidst this anarchy, King Duncan triumphs, but at the expense of the birthrights of his kin, Gruach and Macbeth. The road to vengeance and justice is years in the making and marked by violence... (readers) will be eager for the next installment in this atmospheric exploration of early-medieval life and politics. Booklist
…Nieman's novel takes on the difficult task of giving us, as readers, access to a historical context for the Macbeth we know from the oft-performed tragedy, while also engaging us in a clear consideration of the political vicissitudes of a Scotland facing an inevitable religious confrontation between the old ways the new…This intense and honestly affecting scene-building Nieman does is the real power underscoring the book. We see a young Macbeth become half-brother to an older and somewhat smug Duncan. And, in the entirety of their relationship throughout the book, which involves each one helping, saving, and learning to love the other, we can't help but be reminded of the violence and betrayal that will eventually conclude their story. Gruach, too, has so much to do in her own attempts to survive a world in which she's been sold off to the most expedient bidder. Nieman doesn't shy away from the complications of Gruach's sexuality and the repression of this patriarchal world caught between the two almost-tidal forces of ancient, native Scottish practices and the encroaching Christian context…Nieman's "Upon the Corner of the Moon" is a haunting and bloody tale of Scottish history. It's also a finger tracing along a set of scars, ones we already know are too deep to ever really heal. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
… Nieman has woven a masterful story with the attention to detail of a historian and the lyrical skill of a seasoned poet. Nieman has tucked beautifully lyrical passages into the story's framework and presents her readers with a grand tale of history and emotion among the backdrop of kingdoms at war, daily life in those times, and the effect it has on all. I highly recommend this book. Rose Culbreth in Books for Readers
Upon the Corner of the Moon by Valerie Nieman is a remarkably immersive historical novel of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Set in Scotland in the early second millennium, the novel provides the backstories of this infamous couple, placing them squarely in the larger framework of Scotland's history, while humanizing them and making them sympathetic … The beautiful language of the novel pulls the reader into the cold, brutal world. This is book one of the story, and I'm eager for book two. Susan Coventry in Reading World
Throughout the ages, writers have been fascinated with the story of Macbeth. Shrouded in fantasy, myth, and legend, some accounts bear little resemblance to the real man. However, author Valerie Nieman delivers a thought-provoking story illustrating an unusual perspective in Upon the Corner of the Moon. As the first installment in the Alba series, the author focuses on the individual characters and the forces that shaped them through time. Both Macbeth and Gruach are presented as children who are mere pawns in the battle for power. Torn between pagan and Christian teachings, young Gruach has no control over her own fate… The author leverages rich historical details to build the backdrop as power-hungry leaders leverage their interpretation of various prophecies to seize control. Upon the Corner of the Moon introduces Macbeth and Gruach before they become the power couple destined to inspire a legend. Novels Alive
…For those of us who already enjoy historical fiction, Upon the Corner of the Moon is a no-brainer! This retelling of Macbeth starts way before the version told by Shakespeare. We read about how Gruach and Macbeth grew up fostered by different parental figures. Gruach and her brother Nechtan come back to the court only after their father Boidh dies. Then we get to their adolescence, where Gruach is forced into an arranged marriage ….Valerie Nieman's Upon the Corner of the Moon skillfully retells the famous stories of Gruach and Macbeth, weaving and highlighting much-needed context from their early lives that we'll not soon forget. The Honey Pop
Upon the Corner of the Moon:
A Tale of the Macbeths by Valerie Nieman
Paperback: 360 pages
ISBN: 9781646035359
US $21.95 / CAN $30.95
Epub/Mobipocket
ISBN: 9781646035618
US $9.95 / CAN $12.99
Audiobook all platforms
Release March 11th, 2025
Distribution:
Independent Publishers Group
814 N. Franklin Street
Chicago, IL 60610
P: (800) 888-4741
F: (312) 337-5985
distribution@ipgbook.com
Canadian Manda Group
664 Annette Street
Toronto, Ontario, ON
Canada M6S 2C8
P: 416-516-0911
F: 416-516-0917
general@mandagroup.com
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR IN THE LONELY BACKWATER
The theme of alienation, the impressive description of setting, and the innovative narrative of In the Lonely Backwater situate this as a compelling work of fiction for any reader who loves a good mystery. But it's the voice of the narrator that steers our intrigue through the dark backwaters of this novel. — Susan O'Dell Underwood in North Carolina Literary Review
In tight, yet poetic prose, wasting not a word or a sentence, Nieman skillfully takes readers into the life of a young woman tumultuously standing on womanhood's edge and creates a Southern mystery sure to intrigue.—Nicole Yurcaba, Portland Review
I don't believe I've seen a teenaged protagonist as troubled and true as Maggie Warshauer since Huck Finn. This 17-year-old sailor-scientist inhabits deep water both literally and figuratively in Valerie Nieman's new novel, In the Lonely Backwater. The author sets her tale at a backwoods North Carolina lake marina which Maggie's alcoholic father manages (barely, with her considerable help). Physically plain and stout rather than svelte and sexy like her cousin Charisse, Maggie is a loner who charts her own course, whether on or off her sailboat Bellatrix, salvaged with her dad from the boat "boneyard." Brilliantly, Nieman guides us through one of the most honest, truthful and profound meditations I've yet read on identity, including candid discussions of sex and gender, to discover the very roots of character.—Ed Davis, Books for Readers #224
Maggie Warshauer, the 17-year-old main character in Valerie Nieman's intriguing new mystery, In the Lonely Backwater, may go down in literary history as one of the most memorable unreliable narrators since Rachel Watson in Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train.—G. Robert Frazier in Chapter 16, Tennessee Humanities and Chattanooga Times Free Press
I found In the Lonely Backwater to be a beautifully written story that gripped my imagination. The rich descriptions of nature, seen through Maggie's informed eyes, add an extra layer. So does the shifting balance between truth and fiction.— Winston-Salem Journal and Greensboro News and Record.
Valerie Nieman is a strongly established and widely admired author…Each of her works is distinguished for clarity, forceful drama, originality, and deftness of style. Her pieces are often anthologized and she has been awarded a happy number of literary prizes. Why, then, has she chosen to write as her new novel, In the Lonely Backwater (Regal House Publishing, 2022) a murder mystery, one of the most generic of story types?…The heart of the mystery is at last (Maggie's) own heart. The final knowledge she must attain is self-knowledge and its dread truth may be at last undeniable and untenable. The story of In the Lonely Backwater ends in present time. Whether it concludes is a larger question. This novel is an intricate and intriguing work of art. Its intricacies are not mere twists of plot line; they are necessary and inevitable. They define, redefine, in a serious manner the term, mystery.
—Fred Chappell, novelist, poet, Bollingen Prize winner, former North Carolina Poet Laureate, StorySouth
With gorgeous description and elegant prose, Nieman transforms a North Carolina village and marina into a haunting character in this fine literary novel. Readers who enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing will love this story and its likeable teen protagonist, Maggie Warshauer. Beautifully written and perfectly paced, In the Lonely Backwater is a great choice for book clubs." —Donna Meredith, Southern Literary Review
…Maggie seems reluctant to fully engage with her memories of the night of Charisse's death, both in her own mind and under questioning from Vann. This opens up the question of what—if anything—she might be hiding from herself, and from authorities, and why. Is this reluctance born of guilt, or is something more complicated going on? In time, Nieman answers this question. All the while, she writes perceptively about Maggie's interior life, respecting the mystery of it while gradually revealing insights that show Maggie and her past experiences in a new, and sometimes startling, light… Ultimately, the novel comes to a conclusion that continues to haunt me. It's a pleasure to recommend this riveting, psychologically complex, and beautifully detailed novel.— Beth Castrodale, Small Press Picks
Maggie's observations—informed by her fascination with Linnaeus and his classification of species—are carefully revealed….(her) confidence brims with a mature bravado but often clashes with her negative physical self-descriptions. Themes of sexual awakening are raised; they drip with phrasing that conflates desire, regret, confusion, and fantasy as Maggie wrestles with internalized shame." —Kirkus Reviews
Since the narrator-protagonist is 17 years old, the author and publisher are treating this as a "young adult" novel, although its market range is much wider. Anyone who likes Harlan Coben or Gillian Flynn should feel right at home…Nieman, who's the author of To the Bones and Blood Clay, is adept at handling Southern gothic atmospherics, and the text keeps the reader going right up until the solution on virtually the last page. —Ben Steelman in the Star-News
In the Lonely Backwater
by Valerie Nieman
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN: 9781646031795
US $18.95 / CAN $22.99
Epub/Mobipocket
ISBN: 9781646031801
US $9.99 / CAN $9.00
Pub Date: May 10, 2022
Regal House Publishing
806 Oberlin Rd #12094
Raleigh, NC 27605 USA
regalhousepublishing.com
fitzroybooks.com
Distributed by Independent
Publishers Group
814 N. Franklin Street
Chicago, IL 60610
P: (800) 888-4741
F: (312) 337-5985
distribution@ipgbook.com
If you're a high school or college teacher, In the Lonely Backwater has many possibilities for classroom discussions around nature and taxonomy, gender nonperformance, fiction writing, and sailing.
For college classes or book clubs looking for something a bit different ...
To the Bones
Ed Davis writes: "Valerie Nieman's new novel almost makes me wish I were still an English professor so I could teach the book. A mash-up of genre and literary, To the Bones (WVU Press, 2019) has something for every taste in this rollicking ride of a read... If she can please twenty-something college students yearning for a new take on their anti-heroes, plus simultaneously satisfy their professor's penchant for literary fiction, that's quite an accomplishment." The book has elements of horror, mystery, Appalachian folk tale in its DNA.
Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse
"...Nieman's narrative is appealingly roguish and poignant. But we can also see it as an American parable in poetry, a combination of Huckleberry Finn and Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "The Birthmark." You ponder race, class, suffering, spirituality, history, and identity as you fall under the Leopard Lady's spell. This book is, as the sideshow banner says, ALIVE." — Jeanne Julian in Main Street Rag, Vol. 24, No. 1, Winter 2019
"Steeped in sideshow tradition, and addressing issues of race, gender, self-concept, and creative expression, your book is beautifully written." — The Coney Island Museum
Other contacts
For subsidiary and foreign rights:
Rightol Media
Folio Literary Agency
Gotham Group