This author of historical fiction adheres to her usual pattern of following characters in different time periods to expose readers to a bit of history and a modern place of interest.
In this story, the Metropolitan Museum in New York City is paired with the story of an ancient Egyptian Queen, Hathorkare, loosely based on a real female pharaoh named Hatshepsut. Charlotte Cross is the unifying character in time and place, first while working as an archaeologist in 1936 on a dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and then later in 1978 New York City, as she is working at the Metropolitan as an associate curator of the museum’s collections of Egyptian art. The reader also meets Annie Jenkins who is hired by Diana Vreeland, organizer of the Metropolitan Gala. The Met Gala is a major fundraising event for the museum, and it’s known as the party of the year.
But on the night of the gala, a priceless Egyptian artifact is stolen. That same night Charlotte’s research that would prove that Hathorkare was a powerful pharaoh, more powerful than had been previously realized. While pursuing the thief through the museum’s basement storage area, he knocks Charlotte down. Annie sees the assault, but the two women are unsuccessful in finding the thief. Charlotte embarks on a trip to Egypt to try and redo some of her research and follow a lead about an outlaw group specializing in stealing Egyptian artifacts and returning them to Egypt, and Annie, having been let go from the Met, invites herself along. Together the women embark on a quest to find the artifact and a part of Charlotte’s past she’s been unable to forget for years.
This is an interesting story. I love the focus on female characters finding their strength and Independence in this author’s stories. Like this one, they are easy to read and inspire (in me anyway) the curiosity to do a little more digging into the topic.
