Book #40 - The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

I actually finished this book on June 6 on the airplane heading to Miami to catch the Cruise we just got home from. It is the follow up to "Nefertiti" that I read some time ago. After nearly 4000 years since the height of the Egyptian empire, I have found that politics have not changed. "Royalty" is always jockeying for power and position using secret alliances and withholding secrets until the optimal time. Like "Nefertiti", I found that the author tied a fascinating story into the history of the Egyptians. At times, it is so hard to believe that children like Ramses II (19 yr old) and Queen Nefertiri (16 yr old) were drafting the first peace treaties in recorded history. The author placed an interesting twist with the book ending and Nefertiri releasing the Hailbu people from Egypt. Although historically, she says Moses (who is found in no other references except the Bible) would have been a thousand years before, the story dictates that Nefertiti allowed Moses to lead his people to freedom and out of slavery. So refreshing that although Nefertiri did things to position herself to be Queen, she (unlike her Aunt Nefertiti) did them out of her love and devotion to Ramses. She could not bear to be apart from him nor could he from her. There was far less pressure to produce heirs and for more natural, real enjoyment in their marriage. Perhaps this is why Ramses lived to almost 90 years old.