Egypt's Sister

Daughter of the royal tutor, Chava, has grown up alongside Egyptian princess Urbi in the royal palace at Alexandria.  When Urbi unexpectedly becomes Queen Cleopatra, Chava holds to a promise given by God that, "Your friendship with the queen lies in My hands.  You will be with her on her happiest day and her last.  An you, daughter of Israel, will know yourself, and you will bless her."  Despite their promise to be friends and sisters forever, however, Cleopatra imprisons Chava after an argument.  Sold into slavery and shipped to Rome, Chava begins a years-long journey back to her beloved home, that will eventually bring her face-to-face with the queen and friend who betrayed her so viciously.

From the palaces of Alexandria to the Roman countryside and the very halls of Roman power, Angela Hunt takes readers on a powerful and compelling journey in Egypt's Sister.  Impeccably researched and full of wonderful historical detail, Hunt's latest Biblical-era novel is nothing less than fascinating.  She expertly has readers explore the the competing worlds of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, and Roman thought.  The story itself is fast-paced, and makes the books almost impossible to put down.  For such a lovely story of identity in God, faithfulness, and forgiveness, though, there was just so little joy to be had.  After finishing the novel, I felt like I had journeyed and learned alongside Chava, but that neither of us had truly reached a happy ending.  The hopeless romantic and occasional optimist in me simply wasn't satisfied by the ending and needed just one more-- perhaps cliche-- chapter to bring the story to its conclusion.


 I received a free copy from the publisher.  No review, positive or otherwise, was required—all opinions are my own.