Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
Synopsis:
Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped by all that her strong personality will temper the young Amunhotep's heretical desire to forsake Egypt's ancient gods, overthrow the priests of Amun, and introduce a new sun god for all to worship.
From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people. Her charisma is matched only by her husband's perceived generosity: Amunhotep showers his subjects with lofty promises. The love of the commoners will not be enough, however, if the royal couple is not able to conceive an heir, and as Nefertiti turns her attention to producing a son, she fails to see that the powerful priests, along with the military, are plotting against her husband's rule. The only person wise enough to recognize the shift in political winds--and brave enough to tell the queen--is her younger sister, Mutnodjmet.
Observant and contemplative, Mutnodjmet has never shared her sister's desire for power. She yearns for a quiet existence away from family duty and the intrigues of court. Her greatest hope is to share her life with the general who has won her heart. But as Nefertiti learns of the precariousness of her reign, she declares that her sister must remain at court and marry for political gain, not love. To achieve her independence, Mutnodjmet must defy her sister, the most powerful woman in Egypt, while also remaining loyal to the needs of her family.
Love, betrayal, political unrest, plague, and religious conflict, Nefertiti brings ancient Egypt to life in vivid detail. Fast-paced and historically accurate, it is the dramatic story of two unforgettable women living through a remarkable period in history.
My Review:
“I wonder if our names determine our destiny, or if destiny leads us to choose certain names.”
“Nefertiti” is an amazing novel about one of Egypt’s most legendary rulers. This is the tale of Nefertiti’s ambitious rise to the throne, but it’s also the story of the relationship between two sisters. Nefertiti’s half-sister, Mutnodjmet, is the narrator of the book which chronicles Nefertiti’s marriage to Prince Amunhotep until her death. Michelle Moran depicts two sisters who are as different as night and day but ultimately will do anything for each other. Nefertiti is calculating and shrewd, and she plots with her father to keep her family in favor of the Pharaoh and make sure that his second wife, Kiya, stays out of the picture. However, Mutnodjmet doesn’t approve of her family’s deceitfulness, and she also yearns for a life of her own that amounts to more than being her sister’s handmaiden.
Moran put in a lot of research for her first book and it really paid off. She didn’t spend pages explaining what things were but incorporated those aspects and the fact smoothly into the story. I am far from an expert on ancient Egyptian culture but from what I found out after this book piqued my curiosity, this book while not 100 percent accurate, is close enough while adding in fiction to keep it entertaining.
Egypt really comes to life in this novel. Moran’s words are evocative without becoming tedious; she uses just enough description to build up images of temples and palaces in your mind without weighing down the narrative with lengthy, complex descriptions. Her words conjure up the blue of the sky and the breeze on the Nile as the royal barge floats down the river, and the relationships of the characters are a joy to read, and there are very few dull moments.
“Nefertiti” was an interesting take on a highly unusual Egyptian time and family. It was a time of change and just as Mut and Nefertiti were changing the whole Egyptian world was changing with them. I applaud Michelle Moran for writing a novel on a woman is still for all intents and purposes an enigma to us. Akhenaten’s unpopular decision to replace Amen with Aten lead to his name and that of his family being erased from history. As a result, little information is available on Nefertiti, but Moran used the most accepted theories available on her life to creating an unforgettable novel that will hook you from page one.
My Rating:
✬✬✬✬✬
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