Readers who enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl will probably find much to like in Nefertiti. The scheming court, the slippery politicians in family factions who use their daughters to gain power, the erratic and all-powerful ruler, and most of all the two sisters and their contrasting quests for power or love. If this sounds reminiscent of Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl, that’s because I found the similarities striking. Can Mutnodjmet emerge from her sister’s shadow and make the life that she wants for herself? Nefertiti and the sisters’ father, Grand Vizier Ay, thrive on politics and plotting, but Mutnodjmet longs for a quiet family life with her love, the military officer Nakhtmin. Nefertiti’s marriage to the Pharaoh Akhenaten as his Chief Wife provides her with the opportunity to gain the power she craves, and plunges Mutnodjmet into a world of ruthless political intrigue. Mutnodjmet, the younger sister, is sensible, thoughtful, affectionate, pretty rather than beautiful, and hopes for love and a happy family life. Nefertiti is the elder sister, beautiful, ambitious and egotistical, who desires wealth and power. All the main characters in the novel are historical personages. Set in Egypt towards the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, in 1351-1335 BC, Nefertiti tells the story of two sisters at the heart of Egypt’s royal family. But Nefertiti's star quality can only take her so far, and when she's prepared to sacrifice her sister to strengthen her power, the two women become locked in a feud which only death can break.Edition reviewed: uncorrected proof, Crown, 2007, ISBN 978-6-0 Watching from the shadows, her sister, Mutny, detests the back-stabbing nature of palace life, and as she dreams of a simple life in the countryside, she records her sister's transformation from teenage girl to living goddess. But when her husband breaks with a thousand years of tradition, defying the priests and the military, it will take all Nefertiti's wiles to keep the nation from being torn apart. Beguiling and wilful, Nefertiti is soon as powerful as the Pharaoh himself. As Queen of the world's first great empire at the height of its power, all her dreams are realised. She quickly becomes accustomed to the opulence of her new life. When the Crown Prince of Egypt needs a wife, the beautiful, charismatic, ambitious and connected Nefertiti is his mother's first choice.
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