The Stolen Queen
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3.8 • 21 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
*A New York Times Bestseller*
From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.
Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. That is until an unbearable tragedy strikes.
New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She’s consumed by her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.
The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, and a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this alluring outing from Davis (The Spectacular), two women team up to find an artifact that's gone missing from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's 1978 and curator Charlotte Cross, who specializes in Egyptian antiquities, has spent the past three years working to prove female pharaoh Hathorkare was not "universally reviled," and that her visage was not damaged directly after her death, as conventionally believed, but decades later. Charlotte must visit Egypt to prove her thesis, a trip she's avoided because of devastating memories from when she studied abroad there in the 1930s. In a parallel narrative, 19-year-old housekeeper Annie Jenkins dreams of becoming a fashion designer. When she lands a job as the assistant to Met Gala organizer Diana Vreeland, she thinks she's hit the jackpot. But the night of the gala, one of the museum's most famous Egyptian pieces disappears, and Charlotte and Annie join forces to track it down. Their search leads them to Egypt, where Charlotte will finally face her past—if she and Annie aren't killed first. The action-packed novel brims with Davis's customary meticulous research and adds insight to debates over whether artifacts should remain in their country of origin. There's plenty of substance to this rousing adventure.
Customer Reviews
Dramatic and entertaining
THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis is an adult, historical, women’s fiction story line loosely based on the history surrounding the discovery and life of Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut.
Told from dual omniscient third person perspectives (Charlotte and Annie) following two timelines (1936 and 1978) THE STOLEN QUEEN focuses on anthropology student turned assistant museum curator Charlotte Cross. In 1936, at the age of nineteen, while on an archeology dig in Egypt, anthropology student Charlotte Cross fell in love with archeologist Henry Smith; discovered an ancient Egyptian artifact, and in a matter of months her life spiralled out of control. Fast forward to 1978, now sixty-two year old Charlotte, working as the assistant museum curator at the Metropolitan Museum Department of Egyptian Art would have to face down her memories, when the theft of a familiar antiquity brings with it heartbreak from the past.
Meanwhile, nineteen year old Annie Jenkins, whose own life is changing in the face of rejection, has been hired as the personal assistant to Met Gala fashion coordinator Diana Vreeland, a position that puts her up close and personal with the theft of the Egyptian artifact. A journey to Egypt for both Charlotte and Annie comes full circle when Charlotte confronts the past, and Annie recognizes a possible connection to the Metropolitan theft.
THE STOLEN QUEEN is a story of mystery that blends fact with fiction; history with mythology; heartbreak and resolution. Fiona Davis pulls the reader into a mystery of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, greed and obsession. The premise is dramatic and entertaining but the conflict resolution is cursory and hurried. The characters are determined, desperate and charismatic.
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