That Time Lady Macbeth Went Hunting

Serena is described on the cover as a “retelling of Macbeth in Appalachia” and that is the most accurate five-word description that can be given to this book, except in this version, Lady Macbeth quickly outdistances her husband. George Pemberton is the owner of a timber business in 1929, and he and his new wife Serena seek to dominate and to expand this business by any means, often ruthless, necessary. When Serena discovers she cannot bear children, she turns this same ruthlessness towards Pemberton’s illegitimate infant son.

I was mostly unimpressed by this novel. To be fair, going in, I wasn’t invested in any part of the story – the setting (1929 Appalachia), the topic (lumber), or the characters. Although the Pembertons are merciless, they are not particularly interesting beyond this characterization and seemed flat most of the time. Serena is unconventional for this story, in that she is her husband’s equal: she knows and runs the business as well as he does (even more ambitiously), she hunts with an eagle, and she is just as heartless about their business choices. There are only hints to her shady past before Pemberton and how her entire family died and her mysterious nightmares, but there is never any more explanation beyond this and it is dropped about halfway through the book.

Pemberton as well is shown as a strong leader and equally as ruthless (or, if not as ruthless as Serena, then very permissive) but his main development as a character is his guilt over his abandoned bastard (and none towards the mother). Despite this, he still shows very little action to actively help the boy. Finally, Rachel, the seventeen year-old mother of Pemberton’s son, is mostly just trying to survive everything and while I can admire her steadfast determination to keep herself and her son alive, there was little in her story that actually stood out to me. The comedic gospel of workers who provided commentary and news throughout, often laden with superstition and rumors, ended up being my favorite characters.

That all being said, I am looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation because I do think it could be a stunning film and maybe the rare movie that surpasses the book. I think the visual medium is much better suited to showing the vivid sweeping landscapes and wordlessly explaining the dangers of life at the camp and the menacing nature of the Pembertons. Similarly, I hope that the translation to film will make the introspection of Pemberton and Rachel more engaging and have more depth. The casting of Pemberton makes me hesitant, since Pemberton is supposed to be an intimidating presence and Bradley Cooper usually looks like he just hugged a puppy, but I think Jennifer Lawrence will be a perfect pick for Serena.