Nefertiti: A Novel

Nefertiti: A Novel
By Michelle Moran


Product Description
A National Bestseller!

“Meticulously researched and richly detailed . . . an engrossing tribute to one of the most powerful and alluring women in history.”
–Boston Globe

Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped that her strong personality will temper the young ruler’s heretical desire to forsake Egypt’s ancient gods.

From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people but fails to see that powerful priests are plotting against her husband’s rule. The only person brave enough to warn the queen is her younger sister, yet remaining loyal to Nefertiti will force Mutnodjmet into a dangerous political game; one that could cost her everything she holds dear.


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Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #32332 in Books
Published on: 2008-05-27
Released on: 2008-05-27
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
496 pages

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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This fictionalized life of the notorious queen is told from the point of view of her younger sister, Mutnodjmet. In 1351 B.C., Prince Amunhotep secretly kills his older brother and becomes next in line to Egypt's throne: he's 17, and the 15-year-old Nefertiti soon becomes his chief wife. He already has a wife, but Kiya's blood is not as royal, nor is she as bewitching as Nefertiti. As Mutnodjmet, two years younger than her sister, looks on (and falls in love), Amunhotep and the equally ambitious Nefertiti worship a different main god, displace the priests who control Egypt's wealth and begin building a city that boasts the royal likenesses chiseled in stone. Things get tense when Kiya has sons and the popular Nefertiti has only daughters, and they come to a boil when the army is used to build temples to the pharaoh and his queen instead of protecting Egypt's borders. Though sometimes big events are telegraphed, Moran, who lives in California and is making her U.S. debut, gets the details just right, and there are still plenty of surprises in an epic that brings an ancient world to life. (July)
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Review
"A stunning debut-I can't believe it's her first novel-what a thrilling read! I found the whole book rich and compelling, exciting and haunting. Nefertiti is a fine creation, both appealing and frightening, and she's surrounded by a thoroughly satisfying cast of characters, too. The whole world of Anceient Egypt comes to life."
- Rosalind Miles, bestselling author of I, Elizabeth

"There haven't been two more fascinating or outrageous siblings since the Boleyn sisters...Nefertiti is obsessive reading."
- Robin Maxwell, author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn

"An engrossing page-turner, Nefertiti brings ancient Egypt to life as two royal sisters struggle to find fulfillment and happiness- one craving ultimate political power, the other desiring only to follow her heart. A strong debut novel of passion and intrigue, Nefertiti kept me up way too late!"
- India Edghill, author of Wisdom's Daughter

"A provocative portrait of limitless power in an ancient land of limitless fascination."
- Ki Longfellow, author of The Secret Magdalene

“Nefertiti is a fascinating window into the past, a heroic story with a very human heart. Compulsively readable!”
–Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Breath of Snow and Ashes

"Though sometimes big events are telegraphed, Moran, who lives in California and is making her U.S. debut, gets the details just right, and there are still plenty of surprises in an epic that brings an ancient world to life."
- Publishers Weekly

"Beautifully written and completely engrossing, this first novel should enjoy wide readership."
- Library Journal

"A wonderful, beautifully written, and well researched novel, Nefertiti is a page-turner filled with amazing visuals of a dazzling historical period."
-Jani Brooks - Romance Reviews Today


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
MICHELLE MORAN lives in California with her husband and a garden of more than two hundred kinds of roses. Visit her at www.MichelleMoran.com.


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Customer Reviews
A Wonderful Tale of Power, Persuasion and Plague
Although I'd seen Michelle Moran's novel all over the place, I was only inspired to pick it up after attending a Library Journal panel on which she spoke with Lisa See, Broos Campbell and several editors. All of the authors on the panel spoke about why they were inspired to write what they did, but it was Michelle Moran's tale of archaeological digs and research around the world that prompted me to actually go out and get the book. To say I finished it in two nights would be a lie. It was more like a day and a half, and although I was supposed to be attending Book Expo America and grabbing free goodies to bring back to my library, I found myself sitting in the corner for "just a quick nip" into the book. What do you know, several hours later I was done, and this is one of those books where you hold your breath and stop breathing for several pages.

I loved the way she made Egypt come alive. I felt like I could hear Nefertiti's rages, see her putting on her wigs and kohl, and smell the perfume she wore while trying to keep her husband's attention away from the harem and firmly on herself. Because the author had spoken about her research into plague in ancient Egypt, I wasn't surprised when plague broke out in the novel, claiming the lives of some of the characters and altering Egyptian history.

If you're a fan of Wilbur Smith, Pauline Gedge, Elizabeth Peters or Brad Geagley, I would highly recommend this book. It's not as long as anything done by Colleen McCullough (like Cleopatra or Antony and Cleopatra), but you'll wish it was! In fact, I had the chance to get an early copy of Moran's The Heretic Queen yesterday. It's the sequel to Nefertiti and I have to say, I'm enjoying it as much I did Nefertiti. But more on that to come!

Nefertiti the Nasty
I didn't care for this book at all. It's very difficult to enjoy a book with so few sympathetic characters. Moran's Nefertiti is a completely selfish and manipulative woman with few, if any, redeeming traits. And her sister, from whose point of view the story is told, is not much more sympathetic. Though kinder by far, I can't admire how she continually abases herself in service to Nefertiti's selfishness. Each turn of the page left me wanting to slap one or both of them, as well as almost every other female character other than the Dowager Tiye. Meh.

Greed , murder and intrigue in Pharonic Egypt
Greed, murder, betrayal, and palace intrigue abound as Nefertiti, one of Egypt's most enigmatic queens, comes to life again. Seen through the eyes of her younger sister Mutnodjmet, Nefertiti is the favored daughter of a powerful vizier, destined to wed the next Pharaoh of Egypt. When the favored crown prince dies suspiciously, Nefertiti marries his unstable, obsessive brother Amunhotep, later known as the Pharaoh Akhenaten. As her husband devolves into suspicion and madness, various factions of the court pin their hopes on Nefertiti to control Pharaoh and guide Egypt's future.

Pharaoh's heretical desire to raise a new son god, the Aten, above all others soon plunges the country into chaos. He destroys centuries of religious tradition, closing the temples to all other gods and establishing the Aten as supreme. Nefertiti encourages her husband's prideful foolishness, so long as it keeps her and her family in control. When the royals establish a glittering new court at Amarna, the on-going rivalry between Nefertiti and Pharaoh's second wife, Kiya grows dangerous. Nefertiti tries in vain to produce a son. With priests, ministers and the military vying to exert control over Pharaoh, the only person whom Nefertiti can consistently rely on for the truth is her sister Mutnodjmet. However, Mutnodjmet finds her loyalty often tested by Nefertiti's determination and the desires of her own heart.

Ms. Moran skillfully weaves a tale of Egypt's iconic queen, known worldwide as an ideal of feminine beauty. Nefertiti remains as enigmatic today as she seemed when Egyptologists discovered her limestone bust, now housed in Berlin's Altes Museum. The narrator permits the reader inside Nefertiti's world, to explore the complexity of her character. Nefertiti inspires sympathy and dislike in turns. The pawn of her powerful family, their machinations force her into marriage to a deluded tyrant. Yet, Nefertiti retains unrealistic expectations of her younger sister and manipulates those whom she claims to love.

Ms. Moran's portrayal of the Amarna period is not without some controversy. The family tree indicates Mutnodjmet as mother to Nefertari, chief queen of Ramses the Great. It does not show Mutnodjmet as the eventual wife of the Pharaoh Horemheb. Mutnodjmet also raises Kiya's son Tutankhamen although Nefertiti was Kiya's greatest rival. The lack of a complete record of Nefertiti's influence has fueled centuries of speculation and theories. However, Ms. Moran fills in the gaps of history with such creative skill that most minor distortions do not detract from her flowing narrative or compelling characters. Nefertiti remains an entertaining read throughout.