Ancient Intrigue

Ok, add Michelle Moran to my list of favorite authors! I loved these books! I read two of her books back-to-back, and since they are related, I am going to treat them together in this post. Here they are:

Titles: Nefertiti
The Heretic Queen
Author: Michelle Moran
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Dates: 2007, 2008 respectively
My reading dates (Nefertiti): 6/7/10-6/11/10
My reading dates (The Heretic Queen): 6/12/10-6/13/10

Moran has great talent in taking the skeleton of a true story and fleshing it out into something really special. While not much is known for certain about the great pharaohs and their families in ancient Eqypt, Moran made sure that what was available to know, she knew it. These facts made for a strong foundation and she built well upon that. If you have ever had any curiosity about ancient Egypt, Moran’s writing will take you there. Her stories are addictive, literally. From the first page I was sucked into their world and only painfully extracted again, and even that did not happen until I turned the last page and realized with what bordered on devastation that there were no more pages to read. Her writing is utterly engrossing.

One aspect of Moran’s brilliance rests with her extraordinary use of characters. Every character in both novels was stunning, however I am especially pleased with her use of Mutnodjmet as the lead in Nefertiti. I would have anticipated it to be told by Nefertiti herself, but shifting the voice to that of her sister added so much richness and depth. I adored “Mutny”. I believed her completely, cheered her on throughout the novel and actually find myself checking for the green eyed cat in real paintings from the era. All of Moran's characters, or at least the vast majority, are in fact real, historical figures. So looking for them in paintings is only a little crazy. :-) Equally strong was Moran’s lead character of Nefertari in the second novel. Although Moran connects the two in that Nefertari is depicted here as Mutny’s daughter, a thought which is possible and even probable, but impossible to know for sure, this relationship in no ways leads to characters that are overly similar. The two are sufficiently different and in fact, they could theoretically be read independently without affecting the reading of the second, although I strongly recommend reading them in proper order for a richer reading.
Not only are the characters independent, but the stories are unique and completely full unto themselves as well. In fact, I really shouldn’t be bunching them into one blog, but this way I get to talk about how much I like Moran’s work as a whole. While the first novel takes one on a thrilling ride of intrigue and jealousy, while putting emphasis on the special bond between sisters and family, the second novel’s lead character is an orphan and has no family on which to focus. The second reminded me strongly in its early chapters of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, actually.
Anyway, I can’t say enough good things about these two books and I have absolutely no bad things to say, so I will just stop here. I will add though that I have an incredible urge now to watch The Mummy. Hmm, maybe I will. :-)

Keep reading!
Sarah