Review: The Heretic Queen

Title:  The Heretic Queen

Author:  Michelle Moran

# of pages:  400

Release date:  September 16, 2008

ISBN:  978-0307381750

Rating:  4.5/5

In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family’s past and remake history.

The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth Dynasty’s royal family—all with the exception of Nefertari, the niece of the reviled former queen, Nefertiti. The girl’s deceased family has been branded as heretical, and no one in Egypt will speak their names. A relic of a previous reign, Nefertari is pushed aside, an unimportant princess left to run wild in the palace. But this changes when she is taken under the wing of the Pharaoh’s aunt, then brought to the Temple of Hathor, where she is educated in a manner befitting a future queen.

Soon Nefertari catches the eye of the Crown Prince, and despite her family’s history, they fall in love and wish to marry. Yet all of Egypt opposes this union between the rising star of a new dynasty and the fading star of an old, heretical one. While political adversity sets the country on edge, Nefertari becomes the wife of Ramesses the Great. Destined to be the most powerful Pharaoh in Egypt, he is also the man who must confront the most famous exodus in history.

Sweeping in scope and meticulous in detail, The Heretic Queen is a novel of passion and power, heartbreak and redemption.

Wow.  I was completely entranced by the world Michelle Moran created in The Heretic Queen – just as much as, if not more than, in her first novel, Nefertiti. I actually read this novel in one day because I had to travel into the city so I had lots of extra time to read on the train ride – but once I got home, I was only about halfway through the book and couldn’t do anything else that night until I finished it.  The story captivated me; the relationships between the characters, the intricate details Moran weaves into the story, and plenty of intrigue and suspense to make me keep saying to myself, “just one more chapter and then I’ll take a break.”

I loved the character of Nefertari.  She was trapped in this life where people hated her because of crimes done by family members she’d never even met; she spent her entire life unsure of what would happen to her when she grew up.  Then one day, her dreams came true – she was engaged to be married to her childhood best friend and the love of her life, who is coincidentally also the Pharaoh.  Just when she felt like all her childhood fantasies were becoming a reality, it became obvious to her that her life as Rameses’ wife would be filled with challenges – the Egyptian people didn’t respect her, her in-laws all hated her, and it was entirely possible that someone was trying to sabotage her just as had been done to her aunt, Nefertiti.  I felt a lot of sympathy for Nefertari and found myself rooting for her throughout the book – she was a very easy character to like and relate to.

Michelle Moran is an extremely talented writer and I have immensely enjoyed both of her books.  She crafts a fantastic picture of ancient Egypt each time, really bringing the characters and the situations to life.  I absolutely look forward to whatever she comes up with next.

More reviews -

• Devourer of Books
• Wendy at Caribou’s Mom
• Meghan at Medieval Bookworm
• Nicole at Book Escape
• Alyce at At Home With Books
• Julie at Booking Mama
• S. Krishna’s Books
• Dar at Peeking Between the Pages

Review: Nefertiti

Nefertiti – Michelle Moran

From the book jacket -

Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rules 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.

My thoughts -

Wow.  Nefertiti is such a fantastic historical fiction novel that I don’t know even what to say or how to describe my feelings about it.  I will attempt to at least explain what I loved so much about this book, however, to the best of my abilities.

Honestly, the way the book is put together is the way I think every historical fiction novel should be.  It had just the right amount of actual historical details to be incredibly interesting and actually help you learn something, while at the same time being just fictionalized enough that the story totally captivates you like truly great fiction should.  Moran had to be so meticulous when doing her research, because Egypt really came to life in this book – I could see the clothing they wore, the way the houses, gardens, and palaces were designed, and the way the cities looked… it was pretty amazing how detailed she got.  But nowhere did the details ever feel overdone – I relished and loved every single little one.  Also, the characters of Nefertiti and Mutny were so well-written.  I could really understand Mutny’s constant struggle between family loyalty and her own desires for a quiet life outside the palace.  She definitely loved her sister, even when Nefertiti treated her cruelly, but could never let go of her own personal wishes and dreams.  And Nefertiti was powerful, beautiful, but also cruel – just as she was seen by the public.  But she also had a soft side, which she would reveal only to her baby sister, and this side came out especially when she was particularly scared about something, such as the loss of one of her children.  Although I found the minor characters a bit one-dimensional, the fact that Moran wrote these two main characters so well totally makes up for that minor quibble.

Overall, I loved this book and highly recommend it.  I’ll definitely be picking up Moran’s second novel, The Heretic Queen, as soon as I can either mooch it or find it at the library.

Also reviewed by:

• Wendy at Caribousmom
• Katherine at A Girl Walks into a Bookstore
• S. Krishna’s Books
• Literate Chick
• Melissa (guest post) at Booking Mama
• Meghan at Medieval Bookworm
• Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
• Stephanie at Stephanie’s Written Word
• Kimbofo at Reading Matters