The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran
Published by Crown Publishing
Publication Date September 16, 2008
Source: Library
Genres: Historical Fiction
Goodreads
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.
First Impressions
The Heretic Queen was an Ancient Egypt Sister Wives. Iset and Nefertari’s bickering and fight to the top was entertaining and would have made for great reality t.v.
Impressions While Reading
I enjoyed watching Nefertari come into her own and expand her knowledge of languages giving her a leg up from Iset and Ramesses’ most trusted advisers. She is a character stacked against adversity. I couldn’t help but root for and anxiously read of her climb into the Warrior Queen.
I think the depiction of Nefertari and Ramesses’ relationship would have been better suited for a young adult novel. True it matured after Ramesses became Pharaoh but I felt the majority consisted of “I’m cool, you’re cool our relationship is awesome.” It just didn’t work for me.
Final Impressions
Nefertari is a lost Egyptian royal, overshadowed by Ramesses the Great. Michelle Moran was very creative and did a wonderful job bring this historic figure to life.
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