Friday, August 28, 2009

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran



A family destined to be in the record books in Egypt. But when the Pharaoh dies, Nefertiti must be married to the younger son of the two. Her family doesn't think it is a good idea but Nefertiti is determined to see that it works. But the one caught up in it all is her sister Mutnodjmet. Her life is taken away from her as she serves her sister. She'd do anything for Nefertiti but as time goes by, she wonders what kind of queen Nefertiti wants to become.

Ms. Moran has definitely done her research. Yeah a few things were changed but this is fiction after all. The story swept me up and it was written very well! Ms. Moran certainly knew how to place a scene before you and keep you turning pages. The characters evolve at a good pace. There is a lot of the history I wasn't sure about but I was able to follow the story line in spite of it.

Mutnodjmet is a wonderful character. I grew to really like her and wish she was real. She had her head grounded and she'd help her family in any way she could within reason. Her knowledge of herbs was phenomenal for that time. Nefertiti started out knowing what she was to become. Yet along the way, I felt she didn't care what others thought. At first, it wasn't a bad thing but over time, I felt she needed to be a little more open. Now mind you, I don't know what it is like to be a first wife. I've never had to really vie for my husband's attention. So this situation wasn't something I could relate to all that well.

A powerful debut by this author and I am curious to see where the next book in the series goes. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to it but I plan on it eventually. This author explains herself in the back of the book with some of the things she changed. I understood why she did but before then I had no clue that she had really changed anything. I was pleased with her writing style and how the characters unfolded in the story. This is definitely a new author to me and one that I'll pick up with each new book.

Michelle Moran/New Author/ Egypt/ Historical Fiction/ 462 pages/ 3.5 out of 5

I plan on starting The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane sometime today but have a few things I need to get done around here first. :)I hope it lives up to all the hype I've heard about it.