New fiction
“Daughter of Egypt,” by Marie Benedict. It was in November 1922 that archeologist Howard Carter located the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The world was fascinated with pictures of rooms filled with priceless statues, precious gemstones, and the boy king’s gold-encased mummy. Few knew, however, that alongside Carter and Lord Carnarvon, the man funding the dig, was a woman: Lady Evelyn Herbert, Carnarvon’s daughter. Evelyn accompanied her father to Egypt upon receiving Carter’s telegraph of the find. Egyptology had long fascinated the British and Evelyn was no different, although her focus was of Hatshepsut, a female Pharaoh. Hatshepsut was a good leader, bringing peace and riches to Egypt, but later kings would erase her name and the location of her final resting place from history. Evelyn dreams of finding Hatshepsut’s tomb, but her quest puts her in opposition to men who don’t believe the tomb can be located let, alone by a female. Close to proving those men wrong, Evelyn finds herself in a situation where she must choose between loyalty to her father or finally realizing her dream.