"Egyptian Time-travel with strong female character"
Harriet "Hattie" Williams is an artist, living in
Chicago and currently gathering sketches for a book on
ancient Egypt. Hattie's friend, Tom Harris is the author
of
the book and the Egyptian Curate of the museum as well.
When Hattie has trouble sketching the face of Pharoah
Hatshepsut, Tom shows her a pectoral collar, believed to
have belonged to the Pharoah, in hopes that it will help
to
inspire her. He leaves her alone in a small room,
examining
and sketching the valuable necklace and then Hattie finds
herself accidentally locked in the tiny room. She finishes
the drawing and just as she gets the final hieroglyph down
on paper, she becomes dizzy and faints. She "dreams" that
she meets the Pharoah who tells her that her life was cut
short and begs her to protect the real heir to the throne,
the eight year old boy, Tuthmosis. Hattie awakens to find herself in ancient Egypt, in the
body of the female Pharoah, Hatshepsut, being cared for by
a good looking man who says that his name is Senemut.
Senemut claims to have known "Hattie" since her childhood
and who finally agrees to call her "Hattie" in private,
rather than Majesty. She lets him believe that she is the
queen and uses his knowledge to adapt to this new life.
She
realizes that the real Queen had been killed and that she
has taken the Queen's place, but how is she supposed to
protect Prince Tuthmosis and stay alive long enough to
figure out how to get back to her own time? And since she
has developed a relationship with Senemut, does she really
want to leave? Hattie is a strong character who has to quickly adapt
to
life in a world totally foreign to her, and does it very
well. She is able to handle her confusion and to function
without giving away her identity to all the citizens of
the
time. Senemut is a faithful accomplice who soon knows the
truth, even if he can't believe it. He allows himself to
be
influenced by Hattie in some situations and is still able
to guide and protect her from those who would like to take
her out of the picture. Ms. Delisi has the wonderful ability of being able to
take a reader out of their mundane world and set them down
in a world that they wouldn't be capable of creating for
themselves. The reader can easily "become" the heroine of
the story and respond emotionally to the situations
described. Ms. Delisi's description of the life style, the
actions, and motivations of the inhabitants is believable
and the talent that she exhibits is truly a "gift," that I
hope she continues to exercise frequently. Irene MARSHALL © Copyright 2003
For
PNR Reviews
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted December 7, 2003
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