Summer Reading Project #2: Michelle Moran - Cleopatra's Daughter

I bought this book just last week, on the basis of “I just finished my last exam, I have some time to kill before I meet my former classmate, and I have only one other book to read until I get home on Saturday morning” (it was Wednesday). Also, let me tell you – this little gem was not easy to find: it was quiet mischievously hidden under the escalator, on a shelf facing a narrow aisle between the said escalator and the wall. All the good historical novels on Egypt and such were hidden there. It’s a shame.

            But about the book itself – I’ve read another book from this author before, The Heretic Queen, which I loved. To be frank, I usually love any novel featuring a heroine in a historical setting.Cleopatra’s Daughter takes place mere decades before the birth of Jesus, and our heroine is Selene, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Anthony. The young girl, alongside with her brothers, is brought to Rome after the suicide of her parents, where they are placed under the care of Octavia, sister of Octavianus (who later becomes Augustus Caesar). She is reluctant to accept this foreign world, mostly because she knows that although at eleven they – she and her twin brother, Alexander – are not much of a threat, but when they turn fifteen and come of age, they’ll be nothing but problem for Octavianus.

            The novel is mostly about power play (like The Heretic Queen) – how can Selene prove herself worthy enough to be taken seriously? Who will be Octavianus’ heir – his nephew, Marcellus, or his stepson, Tiberius? Who will have bigger influence over Octavianus – his sister, Octavia, or his wife, Livia? How can Octavianus keep and strengthen his power in Rome? How can the slaves be contained? And what about this rebel, who leaves pamphlets all over Rome and calls himself the Red Eagle? –, but it’s also a thorough portrait of life in ancient Rome. Over the course of four hundred pages we visit lavish feasts, we see chariot races in the Circus Maximus, we visit shops in porticos, theatres, listen to trials on the Forum, see slaves up for sale and spend summers on Capri, while getting nice descriptions of everything from the clothes the characters are wearing, through the foods, to the buildings. So, it’s really fascinating to read.

            However, the only taxing thing I found about this novel was to remember who is who – all the adult characters have been married at least twice, have kids from all the marriages, and so all the kid/teenager characters (Selene is ten in the beginning of the novel and fifteen by the end of it) are either cousins or half-siblings. It took me a good hundred pages to learn all the family relations.

            All in all, it was an amazing read – not only entertaining, but educational as well. I am sure I’ll read her next book as well.

Summer Reading Project Progress: 669/10000