What I absolutely loved about this book was how much research was put into it.  While many may know of the discovery of the burial chamber of the young King Tutankhamun, not as many are perhaps as interested in the story of his father (although his stunningly beautiful mother Nefertiti is certainly well known).

The story of the brief Amarna period is exceptionally interesting since it's when the uninterrupted worship of the Egyptian pantheon of gods was outlawed on pain of crippling fines and brutal whippings, and a monotheistic religion enforced - that of the worship of the sun disk, Aten.

Ms Merewether does an astounding job of marshalling together what historical information there is to create a compelling and genuinely plausible fictional narrative of how these incredible events might have unfolded. It's unique that she chose to write about an era in Egyptian history that the Egyptians systematically erased almost as soon as General Horemheb was crowned phararoh. Even the city of Amarna was torn down, vilified by all for what it had once represented in its the rejection of the divine order of things. 

And yet, the author capably breathes life into the story through the eyes of Nefertiti who is both regal and relatable through her youth to her unexpected marriage to a man she did not at first love, yet was determined to do so despite his zealotry, gross ineptitude as a ruler, hermitic existence, and eventually his full disconnect from reality into fanaticism.

As I read through the pages (which I came back to as often as I could since the story was deeply engaging) I thought how Nefertiti's plight had the power to resonate with many readers - of what it is to love someone who hasn't the ability to return that love, through perhaps no real fault of their own.

Her strength, intelligence, and resolve in the face of crisis after crisis speaks of her resilience, while her dissonance of her own belief in the pantheon of gods to her husband's moral dictate that there could be no other god worshiped than Aten must have been exceptionally difficult to bear.

The author beautifully draws all these threads together into a colorful and immersive tapestry. The details in her world and society are also extremely well drawn, as though she herself had been there and recounted the world as it was. A true pleasure.

This is a five star read I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a historical fiction that is thoroughly researched and accurately presented in an authentic and engaging voice. 

As someone who loves the history of ancient Egypt, it was a treat to lose myself in the little-known time when Egypt's society was locked in upheaval, famine, and unrest, ruled by a pharaoh who could not be questioned even as he drove his great civilization into the dust - and of an all-too human queen who walks the dangerous line between his madness and preventing her empire from falling to ruin.