Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book for review.

Marie Benedict has done it again. She’s written a well-researched book with dual timelines and both historical eras are realistically and accurately portrayed.

The two protagonists are the daughter of an earl and the daughter of a pharaoh who moves from princess to queen to pharaoh herself. Both are real historical characters with the daughter of the earl being one of the first people into the tomb of King Tut.

The Earl of Caernarvon was deep into Egyptology during his lifetime and collected many artifacts and participated in digs every year for a long while. He was the patron of Howard Carter, archeologist and being in the home with these two men, the earl’s daughter, Lady Evelyn, called Eve by the family, became fascinated with Egypt as well. She was very interested in the female pharaoh, Hatshepsut and dreamed of finding her tomb and uncovering why almost all of the history of this pharaoh had been wiped out.

Hatshepsut herself was a strong woman ahead of her time. Born the daughter of Thutmose I, she was the God’s Wife of Amun. When her father died, she married his heir and her half-brother, Thutmose II and ruled with him as queen. When he died in his turn, she was regent for his infant heir, Thutmose III. Eventually, she ruled with him. She dressed as a male pharaoh and became a pharaoh herself in this co-ruling era. When Thutmose III’s son became pharaoh in his own turn, Amenhotep II tried to erase Hatshepsut from history by destroying her monuments and statues. He ascribed the trade routes, buildings, and other advances she made in her reign to other pharaohs.

The novelization of these two true historical figures is very well done and humanizes the female pharaoh in a wonderful way. I admit I didn’t know much about her, if anything, but I found myself fascinated by her as written in this book.

Both women faced obstacles as females in their worlds and each were strong and fought for what they wanted even when they had to disguise their strong spines behind a gentle exterior.

This was a great set of two stories showing how women in history were able to find fulfillment despite the odds against a woman in their respective time periods.

A bit of romance was sprinkled in for the Lady Eve as well as Queen Hatshepsut.

This is a great book with a lot of interesting history along with compelling stories. It moves well and isn’t dry or tedious as one might expect with the dry, dusty setting of Egypt for a lot of the book. Two enthralling stories in one with a tie to each other, not only in the history of Egypt, but in obstacles women have faced in history with finding their place in the world against strong odds.

Five stars.