Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict

 

Title:  Daughter of Egypt

Author:  Marie Benedict

Narrated by:  Bessie Carter, Suehyla El-Attar

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hour and 47 minutes

Source: Review copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

What part of the ancient world would you like to learn more about?  I love reading about ancient Egypt, but I would also like to read more about ancient civilizations in South America. 

Lady Evelyn Herbert shares her father, Lord Carnarvon’s love for archeology and Egyptian artifacts.  She has a lifelong passion to find the tomb of the first female Pharoah, Hatshepsut.  Will she be able to find the tomb?  Hatshepsut was the first female Pharoah.  What was her pathway to the throne?

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       This was a dual narrative novel with Lady Evelyn’s narrative taking place in the 1920s searching for Hatshepsut’s tomb and Hatshepsut’s story in 1486 BC as the first woman Pharoah.

·       I loved the Easter egg of Ernest and Grace Seton and their travels in Egypt in the 1920s.  They are the parents of Anya Seton, a historical fiction author that I have loved my entire life.

·       I enjoyed that the story included the perspective of the Egyptians.  Was it right for the English and others to take the Egyptians treasure and artifacts to other countries?

·       Hatshepsut’s story seemed forced into this book.  Lady Evelyn was on the King Tut expedition which is a very exciting story on its own.  I feel like Hatshepsut deserves her own book!

·       There were also Easter eggs for Downtown Abbey.  Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle, his daughter Evelyn, and hi associate archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb.  It was a mostly intact tomb, the likes of which had not been found for quite some time.

·       I had been obsessed with the King Tut discovery when I was a kid.  I did not remember Evelyn being a part of the discovery.  I enjoyed learning about her now.

·       The real-life Evelyn Herbert is the basis for character in two movies I enjoy – The Mummy and Stargate.

·       I enjoyed listening to this on audiobook and liked that two different narrator were used for the two different characters that were telling the story.

Overall, Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict was a fascinating dual narrative historical fiction novel.  This was one of my favorite reads in April.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

 

Have you learned about any interesting historical figures lately? 

Belle de Costa Greene was the personal librarian of J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s.  She was a young librarian at Princeton who came to the attention of Morgan’s nephew.  What no one knows about Belle de Costa Green is that she is African American passing as white.  As she becomes one of the most powerful women in New York City, she always has to be on her guard so that no one will guess her secret.  Will she be able to find satisfaction in life?

I was fascinated by Belle’s story.  I had never heard about her before and was riveted that she was a real person in our history.  This was the January selection for the Page Turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We met last week and discussed this book. Even better, Carol the librarian showed us the pictures online of what this beautiful library looked like. It was so interesting. Belle was able to use almost unlimited purchasing power to build a world class collection of books for J.P. Morgan.  She was also able to use her influence to ensure the collection would be able to be used by the citizens of New York.

I was saddened by her story of never being able to be her true self.  She had a wonderful childhood in Washington, D.C., but her mother took her family to New York City to pass for white.  Her mother wanted her children to have good opportunities that she felt they couldn’t have as African Americans.  Her father was the first black graduate of Harvard and worked towards civil rights.  He left the family after they started to pass.  Belle never got over the loss of her father. Belle had a great love in art collector Bernard, but he really annoyed me.  He seemed very self-centered.  I enjoyed Belle’s triumphs but felt sad for all that she had to give up.

Overall, The Personal Librarian was a very interesting book about a new figure in history for me.  It also got me ready to watch The Gilded Age on HBO.  Is anyone else excited about this new series?

Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!