Egypt, 1351 BCE. Fifteen year old Nefertiti and her thirteen year old sister, Mutnodjmet, are the daughters and only children of the Vizier Ay, brother to the Queen of Egypt, Tiye. The prince of Egypt and Pharaoh's heir, Tuthmosis, is dead - possibly murdered by his younger and much less liked brother, Amunhotep. With no other heir, Amunhotep is made Crown Prince and Tiye goes to her brother's family for a Chief Wife for him: Nefertiti. Both Ay and Tiye need Nefertiti to control Amunhotep, who talks wildly of worshipping Aten, the Sun, over all other gods, and has grandiose and impractical dreams.But Nefertiti is far from secure in her position as Chief Wife. Amunhotep's first wife, Kiya, has given him a son, and Nefertiti exerts all her cunning to keep her upper hand - which of necessity involves aiding Amunhotep in his wild schemes. Becoming king of Lower Egypt, he uses the army to strip Amun's temples and high priests of all their gold and treasures, forces them to convert to the worship of Aten, and as soon as his father dies and he becomes Pharaoh of all Egypt, uses the army to build a brand new city in the desert to worship the sun. The Hittites are encroaching on Egyptian territory; Amunhotep - who becomes Akhenaten - becomes more and more paranoid and obsessive; and Kiya's father, the Vizier and now High Priest of Aten, Panahesi, scheming to raise his family higher. Nefertiti, her father and the dowager queen Tiye are entirely occupied with politics and placating Akhenaten, who refuses to send troops to protect Egypt's borders. Akhenaten and Nefertiti's ambitions raise them to god status, as their statues and likenesses decorate temples and buildings like no rulers before, and Akhenaten becomes more and more unstable. Caught between them all is Nefertiti's sister Mutny, torn between sisterly love and a yearning for her own life free of the palace and its dangers. Everything reaches boiling point when Akhenaten does something incredibly stupid, and Egypt itself teeters on the brink of ruin.I was surprised to find that Mutny narrates this tale, since it is titled "Nefertiti", but it was a good move on Moran's part - Mutny is a quiet, in-the-background character but she is a much more sympathetic character, has a wiser perspective because she's not blinded by Nefertiti's ambition and power, and is much more relatable because she's more humble. Nefertiti, as presented in this book anyway, is too lofty a personage to get inside her head.Where this novel works is with Mutnodjmet and her love for General Nakhtmin, her observations and conscience. She's knowable and likeable for all that she's coming from a drastically different culture.As a window into Egyptian culture in the 14th century BCE, it also works quite well, but it never feels truly authentic. There's a modern touch at work, coming through in Moran's prose, that makes it read more like a fantasy book set in a "different" world, than a work of historical fiction. Since there's not a whole lot to go on, research-wise, Moran has done well to reconstruct the world and its people, but not being an Egyptian history scholar at all, I can't vouch for its accuracy and there are probably better books in this regard.While I did like the book, I also found it hard to get into at times. I had to force myself to sit down and finish it, and this comes down mostly to the style of prose - it's simple, it's readable, it's perfectly fine, but there was too much distance between me and the narrator. The author never really immersed herself deeply enough, leaving the book to skim the surface of an arresting tale. It's hard to pinpoint it any better than that. The characters were no more familiar, understandable or knowable by the end than they were at the beginning. It was a tantalising taste, but I wanted the entire dish.
What I found to be fascinating about this book is that compared to other periods in history i.e. Tudor England, very little is known about it. Michelle Moran has woven an interesting and credible tale. What an amazing imagination she has!This story is told in first person by Mutny, Nefertiti's younger sister. As a character Nefertiti has been portrayed as a beautiful and passionate woman, who will go to any lengths to get what she wants. There are many characters in this novel and I must confess I had trouble keeping up with who was who at times. Mutny's character is amazing and she certainly suffers at the hands of her family. While she is loyal to Nefertiti she also exhibits a strong will of her own that ultimately ensures her survival.I studied Ancient Egypt in depth when I was younger and have read several novels set in this time period. Although none could compare with the details and complexity of the characters in this book. I think Michelle did a wonderful job of bringing this time to life with an incredibly well researched story. There is an afterword in the back of the book that tells you exactly what is understood to be fact and what liberties the author has taken. To me this is always a sign of a great historical author. I like to know the fact from the fiction and often read this before I start the book.I gave this book 4 stars because I thought the first half of the novel dragged a little. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Egyptian history.
What do You think about Nefertiti (2007)?
Remind me next time I'm looking for a new book NOT to buy one that is advertised on perezhilton.com! I should have known what I'd be getting myself into... This was totally a summer beach read - although next time, I will wait for paperback (too heavy)! I felt like it was just ALL dialogue ALL the time - the author never went into too much detail in her description of places, people, etc (this reminds me of my high school English teachers constantly telling us to "show, not tell" in our writing). Overall, my opinion of it while reading it was "meh" - I was happy to pick it up when I had free time to read, but I wasn't drawn to it, by any means.Also, the pharaoh was a total douchebag, to the point where his douchebaggery seemed way too over-the-top. Nefertiti was pretty obnoxious, as well, and in the same unrealistic, "overacted" way. Now that I think about it, MOST of the characters were not likeable or even remotely three-dimensional to me. This just made the book feel schlocky and dumb.
—Anna
While I love anything about ancient Egypt, this book was quite a disappointment to me. I have read a number of books about ancient Egypt that seemed to have been a little more researched and that were better written. It seemed that this story was set in the modern day, rather than in the past.While the plot of the story was interesting, a lot of the characters became more annoying than anything as the story went on. I became less and less interested in Nefertiti's struggle to cope with her eccentric husband and the Egyptian people. I just wanted the story to end, which was such a disappointment - I love ancient Egypt!
—Xarah
Michelle Moran is no Philippa Gregory. Her book seems to reach for it, bringing the idea of a historical and controversial queen to the readers intimacy with the relationship she has with her sister. I will give her credit for the research involved which was probably a lot harder to procure than Tudor knowledge but then again, it warrants that half of what I am reading might be made up. In fact, reading through a historical account of Nefertiti after completion of the book has left me wondering where the author found her sources and I hope she can provide more details in the future. Interesting opinions abound.Unfortunately for Moran, while she tries to gain the reader's interest she simply lacks the storyteller skill that Gregory has and she falls very short of the goal of having us care about these characters. With "the other boelyn girl" i literally felt fear for Anne and I continued to turn the pages in dread. For Nefertiti political machinations and emotions are brief and quickly explained in a way that makes their events seem passive and without consequence. I would have put this on my educational shelf but I'm just not certain I believe all the egyptian details within. However I will say that the book did encourage me to do my own research on Nefertiti so I guess that is a worthwhile conclusion.
—AJ
