Review: Wonderful!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2014
A lover of historical fiction, especially novels put in unusual, "unexplored" by historical fiction, times and places, this novel gratified the reader in me greatly, leaving me satisfied, but wishing for more. If there was a sequel to this novel I would have picked it right away, despite the perfectly rounded-up ending, even.Not an expert on anything ancient Egypt related, I found it a delight to learn all about Akhenaten and the possible motives to his actions, to his puzzling attempts of bringing monotheism to his county-folk. The fresh, interesting, thought-provoking angle on the story of Moses paralleling this of Akhenaten was wonderful.And yet, Akhennaten's family, his women-folk, his chief wife Nefertiti and her numerous daughters, as much as his minor wives and offsprings, being the true stars of this story, made this book into what it is, a great literature, a fascinating story and not only an history lesson. The untold story of the various historical characters, what can be more fulfilling than this?An - Ankhesenamun - captured my heart from the very beginning, her voice so fresh, so authentic and yet so understandable to me as a modern-day reader. Connecting with her was easy. Her hopes, her pain, her aspirations, her frustrations, her delights, her disappointment with herself, her love and desires - I felt all of it together with her, learning history and enjoying a great story at the same time. A perfect combination.Tutankhamun, just an occasional name from some forgotten school lesson, took shape in this novel for me, presenting me with an interesting character, human and alive, and not a sandy statue or hieroglyph, but a person, hopeful and tragic at the same time, a lovely boy who tried to do his best.I can go on and on discussing the numerous characters, historical and fictional ones, as this novel drew me inside it, made me live their lives together with them, while learning history and customs, traditions, believes of people, I knew little about before.I'm a fan and sincerely hope the author will publish more historical fiction in the near future.