From the Publisher
Hatchepsut, the Pharaoh’s daughter, finds and adopts an abandoned infant when she is still a child herself, and does not understand the enormity of her action.
By rescuing this boy, Hatchepsut finds love in an otherwise loveless existence. He becomes the core of her life and watching him grow into a man of extraordinary ability makes her audacious.
Her ambition for him drives her to seize the throne, becoming the king Egypt needs, so she can raise him to rule the proudest Empire on earth.
But who is this man, and does he have an identity better known beyond the borders of Egypt?
Hatchepsut and Senenmut are well known figures in Egyptian history, and while it has fallen to me to paint the story of their lives where it has been lost, these are people who once lived and breathed.
The Book Blogger Review
What is there to say about this remarkable book?
If you want to know what the sand feels like in ancient Egypt as it slips through your fingers during a desert sunset then this book will let you sense this and so many other experiences as you journey through the pages. I am not an Egyptologist, I read this for the human interest story, and that is just as remarkable as the huge amount of research in the book. The author has used a comprehensive endnote system which will interest the academic but doesn’t overwhelm the reader who is not an expert. The writing style is accessible, preventing what might have been a stilted narrative, into one which flows from one vividly drawn scene to another. The characters are strong, the complexities of the politics akin to something you’d find in Games of Thrones – except this really happened.
It’s an extraordinary book. Poignant, compelling, strangely relevant in today’s world with women still struggling to be heard, especially in global politics of the Middle East. Taking historical characters, who have been almost wiped from the face of the world, and turning their stories into something this real, takes dedication and true artistic talent.
A love story, an adventure story, one of history and of power but most of all it’s a human story. One about a woman struggling to break the chains of her social cage to rise, to survive, and to find love. This book is not just about Egypt, it is about the eternal struggle of fighting for the life we want for those we love and therefore it is profoundly human and relevant.
