This review does not contain spoilers.
I don't LOVE love historical fiction. Few books are more informative, and I have lots of admiration for the author’s who have to research extensively, use their imagination to write, and yet stay within factual boundaries. Some of them are so well written, I have a book hangover for several hours after finishing it, wondering about how it must have felt like, to be the person I just read about. And some others are like badly written Fanfiction.
Nefertiti is Michelle Moran's 2007 debut novel, which went on to becoming a bestseller. I picked this book up almost a year ago, without having heard of it; but just because the cover was really eye-catching, and I've always been interested in Egyptology. I came back home, read just a few pages, and for some reason, put it away.
A few days ago, I picked it up again and began to read it after a Twitter recommendation. Now, having read it, I look back to the time I put it down, and scream-
What the absolute hell was wrong with me?
On the cover below, there's a blurb by Diana Gabaldon that says "Compulsively readable!"
Oh, it is.
It is 1351 BCE. Nefertiti is a beautiful, deadly girl, daughter of the Vizier Ay, who goes on to become the Chief Wife of the young Pharaoh, Amunhotep. She grows to be Pharaoh’s main advisor and influences all of his actions even if it means breaking Egypt’s traditions. In what seems like no time, she has crushed Kiya, Pharaoh’s first wife and rival, and her father, Vizier Panahesi. Her life is traced right from girlhood to the time she becomes Pharaoh Neferneferuaten Nefertiti, one of Egypt’s greatest monarchs; all told through the eyes of her younger half-sister, Mutnodjmet, known to her family as Mutny. Mutny, in contrast, is a simple, quiet girl, who loves and admires her sister as much as she sometimes seems to resent her.
Amunhotep is a believer of Aten, not Amun. While Amun is the Sun God that every Egyptian holds sacred, Aten is the Sun itself. His mother chooses to marry him to Nefertiti in the hopes that she will curb his blasphemous talk, but she only aggravates it. Amunhotep commissions new temples to be built, dedicated to Aten. Amun temples are defaced and torn down. He decides to build a new city for himself, filled with glittering palaces and marbled pillars, and neglects the Hittites who are fast encroaching his borders. He angers his army when he uses soldiers to build his structures when they should be fighting a war. There are protests, there is anger, there is poverty.
Amidst this chaos, Nefertiti must keep calm and rule Egypt before it is completely torn apart.
Mutnodjmet is a keen observer of the opulence and extravagance around her, ever as she quietly tends to her herb garden, mixing pastes and curing women of several ailments. She and Nefertiti violently clash over several issues, but always manage to make peace with each other. Her life is often punctuated with moments of grief, but in the end, her life comes together and ends happily. Or well, as happily as it can end.
The plot and dialogue is riveting, but in some place, I wish there had been more descriptions of Mutny’s surroundings. What kind of clothes did they wear? What did they eat? How did the temples look? But then again, I’ll admit that paying attention to ancient Egyptian detail is not a simple task.
Like i said, I may not adore and squeal over Historical Fiction. I don’t LOVE love it, but I sure do LOVE love this book.
The Heretic Queen, also by Moran, follows the life of Nefertari, Mutnodjmet's daughter (not born in Nefertiti) and her life in Egypt. It's on my list!
Which I'll get to, as soon as I'm done with these cursed exams.
I don't LOVE love historical fiction. Few books are more informative, and I have lots of admiration for the author’s who have to research extensively, use their imagination to write, and yet stay within factual boundaries. Some of them are so well written, I have a book hangover for several hours after finishing it, wondering about how it must have felt like, to be the person I just read about. And some others are like badly written Fanfiction.
Nefertiti is Michelle Moran's 2007 debut novel, which went on to becoming a bestseller. I picked this book up almost a year ago, without having heard of it; but just because the cover was really eye-catching, and I've always been interested in Egyptology. I came back home, read just a few pages, and for some reason, put it away.
A few days ago, I picked it up again and began to read it after a Twitter recommendation. Now, having read it, I look back to the time I put it down, and scream-
What the absolute hell was wrong with me?
 |
| Me, to myself. |
On the cover below, there's a blurb by Diana Gabaldon that says "Compulsively readable!"
Oh, it is.
It is 1351 BCE. Nefertiti is a beautiful, deadly girl, daughter of the Vizier Ay, who goes on to become the Chief Wife of the young Pharaoh, Amunhotep. She grows to be Pharaoh’s main advisor and influences all of his actions even if it means breaking Egypt’s traditions. In what seems like no time, she has crushed Kiya, Pharaoh’s first wife and rival, and her father, Vizier Panahesi. Her life is traced right from girlhood to the time she becomes Pharaoh Neferneferuaten Nefertiti, one of Egypt’s greatest monarchs; all told through the eyes of her younger half-sister, Mutnodjmet, known to her family as Mutny. Mutny, in contrast, is a simple, quiet girl, who loves and admires her sister as much as she sometimes seems to resent her.
Amunhotep is a believer of Aten, not Amun. While Amun is the Sun God that every Egyptian holds sacred, Aten is the Sun itself. His mother chooses to marry him to Nefertiti in the hopes that she will curb his blasphemous talk, but she only aggravates it. Amunhotep commissions new temples to be built, dedicated to Aten. Amun temples are defaced and torn down. He decides to build a new city for himself, filled with glittering palaces and marbled pillars, and neglects the Hittites who are fast encroaching his borders. He angers his army when he uses soldiers to build his structures when they should be fighting a war. There are protests, there is anger, there is poverty. Amidst this chaos, Nefertiti must keep calm and rule Egypt before it is completely torn apart.
Mutnodjmet is a keen observer of the opulence and extravagance around her, ever as she quietly tends to her herb garden, mixing pastes and curing women of several ailments. She and Nefertiti violently clash over several issues, but always manage to make peace with each other. Her life is often punctuated with moments of grief, but in the end, her life comes together and ends happily. Or well, as happily as it can end.
The plot and dialogue is riveting, but in some place, I wish there had been more descriptions of Mutny’s surroundings. What kind of clothes did they wear? What did they eat? How did the temples look? But then again, I’ll admit that paying attention to ancient Egyptian detail is not a simple task.
Like i said, I may not adore and squeal over Historical Fiction. I don’t LOVE love it, but I sure do LOVE love this book.
Which I'll get to, as soon as I'm done with these cursed exams.
