Nefertiti

Michelle Moran

The women in Nefertiti's family married into the royal family for generations. Now she is in line to be the next Queen of Egypt. The prince who was to become Pharaoh is injured in an accident, then dies - possibly at the hands of his brother. Nefertiti is chosen to be Amunhotep's wife and queen. Let the politics begin.

Mutnodjmet is Nefertiti's younger sister. She is witness to to Nefertiti's reign with Amunhotep. Mutny chronicles her sister's marriage to an unbalanced ego maniac with too much money and not enough limits. Not that Nefertiti is restrained herself. She is determined to give Amunhotep a son - although he has one with his first wife Kiya. Nefertiti does her best to keep his attention away from Kiya and on herself and their daughters. She also is determined to be remembered throughout history and eternity.

Mutny loves her sister but would be happier as a wife, mother, and gardener. She is in love with a man who is not favored by Pharaoh and the royal court. The grand vizier for Amunhotep is Nefertiti and Mutny's father. Their family is ingrained in the royal family and the running of Egypt.

Politics are rampant in court. Amunhotep is determined to tear down all that has gone before him and set himself up as the most beloved Pharaoh of all time. He does this at great cost to Egypt, though.

Michelle Moran made a wise decision to tell this story from Mutny's point of view. Moran takes the known facts and the artifacts still available from the period to create Nefertiti. Although the story is fictional, it sounds very realistic. More than once the reader just wants to smack Nefertiti. Then there is Amunhotep... There appears to have been too much inbreeding in the Pharaohs' families. It comes to a culmination in this young, crazy man.

Nefertiti is an engaging novel. It's entertaining, well written, and shows that politics remain the same throughout the centuries.