Esther M. Friesner

Ancient Egypt has always been more fascinating to me than any other ancient culture. When I first heard about Friesner’s Sphinx’s Princess, I was elated. It has been a long while since I read a young adult novel set in that time period. Though Michelle Moran’s Cleopatra’s Daughter straddled the line between young adult and mainstream, it wasn’t truly Ancient Egypt, as it was set at the waning of the Empire and primarily focused on Ancient Rome.

Nefertiti, as Friesner explains in the Author’s Note, is as mysterious as the time period itself. Historians know very little about this woman who is written of so dynamically and was such a driving force during her years as Queen. Commoner or royalty? Egyptian or foreigner? Intelligent or just lucky? Arguably one can make the assertion that Nefertiti is as infamous as her husband the Pharoah is, but she is only mentioned as the Queen. Her life before and after has either never been recorded or lost to time, and her body has not been found.

As she did with Helen of Troy in Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s Prize, Friesner takes what little we know of this ignoble personage and creates a well-rounded and relateable young girl who proves herself equal to the legend surrounding her name. Nefertiti is an intelligent, clever and ambitious girl. Her beauty is incidental in her mind to her other talents; she can read and write better then most male scribes and has a mind for strategy.

She is not, however, ready for the politics of court life. Brought to the court of Pharaoh Amenhotep III by her aunt, the Great Queen Tiye, Nefertiti is in both awe and fear of her aunt. At first she goes along with things, happy to do what she enjoys and feeling closer to the mother who died giving birth to her (and was the Queen’s scribe before death). But when the name of the game is trickery, Nefertiti is lost.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Friesner’s depth of detail is astonishing as she describes not only well-known locations of Ancient Egypt but also day-to-day trivials. Nefertiti’s first realization that the slaves her family and others keep are people, too, was intriguing to read while also proving that Nefertiti as a person was worth following in a simple way. Nefertiti’s thirst for knowledge can be keenly felt as she finds ways to write and read without her father’s knowledge.

While I enjoyed reading about her early life, I was hoping for more about when she meets her future husband–the controversial Pharaoh Akhenaten. Hopefully with the publication of the sequel, Sphinx’s Queen, we shall learn more.… (meer)