The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

Having named Nefertiti my favorite book of 2008 (read my review here), I'll admit I had high expectations for the sequel, The Heretic Queen. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, Michelle Moran went far beyond my expectations with this latest offering, and I know it'll be a top contender for my favorite of the books read in 2009.

Moran's take on the story of Queen Nefertari--wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, daughter of Queen Mutnodjmet and General Nakhtmin, and niece of the heretic Queen Nefertiti--is captivating from the very beginning. After her mother dies in childbirth, Nefertari is a young princess without a family or a real place in the palace of Malkata, the rest of her relatives dead in a fire and Nefertiti long dead at the hands of the priests of Aten. Nefertari and Ramesses have been close friends since childhood, but her status is in jeopardy when he is crowned coregent and is set to rule alongside his father, Pharaoh Seti.

Though a princess, Nefertari is despised by most of the people in the palace and the people of Egypt because of her familial connections to the heretics Nefertiti and Akhenaten, who replaced Egypt's polytheistic religion with a single god, Aten. She also resembles Nefertiti in her looks. General Horemheb erased her family history (aside from a few images of her mother) when he forced Mutnodjmet to marry him after the fire and became pharaoh.

When Ramesses marries a harem girl, Isetnofret, Nefertari is devastated, but his aunt, Woserit, the high priestess of Hathor, befriends Nefertari and grooms her to become Ramesses' chief wife. Nefertari will have nothing unless she becomes chief wife, but with Henuttawy, the priestess of Isis and Woserit's sister, and Rahotep, the high priest of Amun, out to get her, there are few people she can trust. Moran chronicles Nefertari's fight to become chief wife, her struggle to overcome her family's past, earn the love and respect of the people of Egypt, and rise above the tensions in the palace. Moran is an expert at making historical figures come to life. Nefertari's intelligence, determination, and good heart immediately elicited my compassion for her plight. The book was full of other strong, well-rounded characters that grabbed and held my attention, including Woserit.

Though I burned through the pages to learn how the story plays out, The Heretic Queen is one book that should be savored. Moran includes a lot of detail about Egyptian culture and the politics of the time, and she gives you just enough; she never wastes a word, and not once does the story slow down. Although the ending of the book is more than sufficient, I finished it wishing there was more to the story, sad that my time in the palace was over. Moran does such a wonderful job with her descriptions of Egypt and the palace, as well as the characters' dialogue, that I felt like I was in the scene. When I think about books I wish I'd written myself (if I had that kind of writing talent), you can bet Moran's novels make the list.

**Tomorrow at Diary of an Eccentric, Michelle Moran will stop by to talk about her favorite writing space. Also, learn how you can get your hands on a copy of The Heretic Queen!**

The Heretic Queen also was reviewed by:

A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore...
S. Krishna's Books
Devourer of Books
The Eclectic Reader
Book Addiction

If you've also reviewed it, let me know in the comments, and I'll add your link!

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of The Heretic Queen from the author for review purposes.