HATSHEPSUT- QUEEN TO KING

HATSHEPSUT, QUEEN TO KING, is a historical novel, geared to adult readers, telling the story of a remarkable woman who ruled Egypt about 1500 years before the more well known Cleopatra, and was, by most accounts. considered to be the greatest female ruler in history. Hatshepsut's "peaceful" reign was in Egypt's 18th Dynasty. She opened trade routes with other countries, re-opened the Sinai mines for gold, and vigorously promoted Egypt's agriculture and the arts, particularly architecture. To better relate to her people, who were not used to a female ruler, she frequently appeared in male pharaoh robes and a fake beard.

But despite her "peacetime" reign, Hatshepsut's personal life was anything but. Being a female ruler, she had many political enemies. Her husband, Thutmose II, and later her nephew. Thutmose III, were war hungry men. Her chief architect, Senmut, was rumored to be more than just the chief architect. After her death, her enemies tried to erase her name from history, by destroying all the monuments she had built that has her image and/or name inscribed on. Her mummy was stolen and has never been definitively found.

Fortunately, her enemies failed to erase her from history, and Hatshepsut lives here, in Evelyn Sova's exciting interpretation.

-- Evelyn Sova