Egypt’s Sister – The Silent Years/A Novel of Cleopatra
Author: Angela Hunt
The author, Angela Hunt, winds a story around the life and loves of Cleopatra. The story is told in the voice of Chava (pronounced hah-vah) who as a child was a playmate and best friend to Cleopatra. They even swore to be blood sisters. Chava, a Jewish girl, loved Cleopatra, but knew she would never be on the same plain as Cleopatra; an Egyptian princess who would someday become Queen. But, she also felt they would always remain blood sisters and be in each other’s lives. She was thrilled to be a friend to the future Queen. She envisioned someday being her lady-in-waiting.
If you’ve always thought you knew the story of Cleopatra, this book gives a look into the life of Cleopatra, and some Egyptian, Roman and Greek history. It is also the story of Chava, a Hebrew who starts out life with a naive view of the world. She soon learns some heartbreaking and also back-breaking lessons about love and giving your allegiance to a person.
Chava is called by God whom she calls HaShem, for a special purpose in her life. She knows she has to remain true to what God has called her to do, but at times, she would prefer to follow her heart. The chain of events that follow in her life somehow don’t seem to fit with what God has asked of her, and she doesn’t see how His plan will be fulfilled.
The author does a great job of setting the scenes of life through a woman who would have lived a century before Christ and the New Testament. There are many scenes when Chava and Cleopatra are young friends. There is also depictions of the differences of Egyptians and the Jewish population and what it means for Chava.
In the beginning of reading the book, it took me a minute to grasp where the author might be going with this story, but it didn’t take long to get to the meat of the story, and my interest stayed piqued. There were many twists and turns, but to me that made it all the more interesting and a desire to keep reading to find out what happened next.
It is a great and interesting story, and the author writes in such a way that you will feel different emotions; some anger, some sadness, and some bitterness. The author does a good job of getting the point of her book across. I would definitely say this is a must-have for anyone’s reading list no matter your genre preference.
Excerpt from the book:
Raised together in the Alexandrian palace, Chava, the Hebrew daughter of the royal tutor, and Urbi, an Egyptian princess, become as close as sisters – and rivals with their dreams of greatness. When Urbi unexpectedly ascends the throne as Queen Cleopatra, Chava believes their bond is strong enough to survive. But absolute power has a way of changing everything.
The ultimate betrayal rips Chava from everything she’s ever known and sends her to the lowest rung of Roman society where she must choose between love and honor, between her own desires and God’s will for her life, if she hopes to rise again.
Publisher: Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group
There’s no doubt you’ll enjoy reading this book. I give it Five Stars
Note: I received Egypt's Sister as a copy from the publisher. No review, positive or otherwise was required. All opinions are my own.
The reviews on my blog are specifically my own interpretation of my like or dislike for a book that I read.
Egypt’s Sister is available here:
Christianbooks.com
Amazon
Goodreads
Books-A-Million
Indiebound
Lifeway
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About the Author: Christy-Award winner Angela Hunt writes for readers who expect the unexpected in novels. With nearly five million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than 140 works ranging from picture books (The Tale of Three Trees) to non-fiction books, to novels.
Now that her two children are grown, Angie and her husband live in Florida with Very Big Dogs (a direct result of watching Turner and Hooch and Sandlot too many times).
Her books have won the coveted Christy Award, several Angel Awards from Excellence in Media, and the Gold and Silver Medallions from Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. In 2007, her novel The Note was featured as a Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel. Romantic Times Book Club presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
Also in 2006, Angela completed her Master of Biblical Studies in Theology degree. She completed her doctorate in biblical studies in 2008 and her Th.D. in 2015. When she’s not home reading or writing, Angie often travels to teach writing workshops at schools and writers’ conferences. And to talk about her dogs, of course. She is also an avid photographer, using her photos to help find homes for animals at local rescues.
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I love to escape with a good book. Happy reading and thank you for the link-up!
ReplyDeleteHi Jill...I've always loved to get lost in reading. I don't read as much as when I was a young girl because once I start, and if I like the book nothing else gets done. I can be up most of the night reading on and on. haha
DeleteI wonder if they have the book in Sweden. Have to check :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nature, if they do, let me know. Would be interesting to know. It probably is or it is available on the book sites, but may be in your Library or they say you can request to see if the Library will get some copies. :)
DeleteHave a great week!
ReplyDeleteHey...thank you. You too. I plan to try your coffee remedy. Thanks for all you share. :)
DeleteThis sounds like a good book with insight into history and life prior to the New Testament.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation. This sounds like an excellent read. And, thank you for stopping by my place. I appreciate you keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. xoxo
ReplyDelete