Talk like an Egyptian

04Aug09

 

 

 

I am a wannabe archaeologist. I majored in geology for my bachelor’s degree and had applied, and was accepted into a master’s program which would have me digging in Africa for Richard Leakey in the summers while I studied Egyptology, when tragically, I ran out of money and had to go to work. Like most people who stop school to make some money before going back for an advanced degree, I got trapped in life’s little tar pits. You get some  furniture and an apartment, a cat, some bills, a car, a boyfriend and you’re stuck. Pretty soon you are 30 and then 40 and then 50-something and sifting through the desert sands of Egypt is no longer on your to-do list. For one thing, they keep all the sand on the ground over there, so you’d have to bend over, sit down or squat, watch out for scorpions! From my 50-something perspective that just isn’t ever going to happen unless they come up with waist-high tombs and air conditioned deserts and scorpion/cobra screens. Oh, and a recliner.

So, instead, I enjoy reading novels about Egypt in my recliner in the air conditioning. Here are the titles from Pauline Gedge, my favourite ancient Egyptian novel author. She was born in New Zealand and now lives in Canada. I love the fact that she snubbed the Canadian Literary Luminaries preferring to relate to the reader, to hobnobbing and politicing her way to Canadian literary awards. She is a best-selling author and winner of many awards for excellent writing. She is particularly popular in France and German where they demand historic fiction be accurate.

Clicking on the book will take you to where you can order it.

 

The Lords of the Two Lands Trilogy 

The Hippopotamus Marsh

Vol 1

In this first book, the hereditary rulers of Egypt are under the rule of the desert tribe the Hyksos, the invaders who make Egyptians subject to humiliation until they begin to fight back. This trilogy is the story of that rebellion.  This book chronicles the rise of Sequenra, a member of the Egyptian royal family.

The genius of this author is to show you the whole of life in ancient Egypt. She knows the customs, geography, and the history and relates it in a slowly-paced but atmospherically rich read. You want to drink sweet tea and nibble on dates as you read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oasis

Vol. 2

The Oasis takes Kamose from the death of his father, Sequenra. Kamos takes command of the Egyptian forces attempting to overthrow the rule of the Hykos.

The epic story is told with rich landscapes peopled with characters so real you miss them when you stop reading.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Horus Road

 Vol. 3

Ahmose,the last surviving Tao male takes up his family’s quest to overthrow the Kykos empire from Egyptian rule. His goal, the walled fortress housing the Hykos mighty army and the crucial Horus Road beyond. Meanwhile back home is Westet, Ahmose’s grandmother, mother and sister/wife Nefertari maintain society and prepare for peace to follow. It is a rich book of a remarkable family and historical dynasty. 

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

King’s Man Trilogy

 

The Twice Born

Vol 1 

The promising life of Huy, a farmer’s son who is sent to school to become a scribe. He makes friends with the children of the rich and powerful but his life is altered forever when something astonishing happens to him. He longs for his old life back and is haunted by visions others cannot see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seer of Egypt

 Vol 2

Huy, the once farmer’s son then humble student scribe has become the Seer to the Pharaoh. Amunhotep’s patronage brings wealth and status but he longs for  freedom from the visions which are a gift of Thoth. His life is coming to an end but his fate holds more in store for the Seer.

  

 

 

 

 

 

The King's Man

Vol. 3

The saga of Huy continues. Huy  occupies the seat of favour with the Pharaoh and controls the treasury, the military, building, taxes and the task of choosing the young Pharaoh’s Queen. However power equals powerful enemies and Huy strives to foil them.

NOTE: Due out November 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child of the Morning

 

This is the story of perhaps one of the earliest feminists. This is the story of Queen Hatshepsut who ruled Egypt in the early 15th Century B.C. She  ruled for over 20 years and brought a golden era of prosperity, peace and building. 

This is Pauline Gedge’s first novel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tales of Thu

House of Dreams

Vol 1

‘Beautiful blue-eyed daughter of a retired mercenary from the remote village of Aswat, Thu is learning to be a midwife at her mother’s knee. But secretly she longs for greatness, fame, riches which she is sure await her. When the Pharaoh’s holy seer Hui stops in to Aswat, Thu slips into the Nile and appears naked in Hui’s private quarters offering herself to him if only he would teach her to heal. What she doesn’t know is that the Seer had been expecting her. He had seen her in the Pharaoh’s future! This is her account of her rise to  becomes a doctor and then a concubine in the Royal harem of Ramses III and the mother of his child.

This book is known in some countries as The Lady of the Reeds.

 

 

 

 

House of Illusion

Vol 2

This is the second part of the story of the life of Thu. It is told at first by Kamen, a young subaltern. He happened onto Aswat where he meets a madwoman with a remarkable tale. She gives him a box and asks him to deliver it to the Pharaoh. He takes her box but has no intention of getting into trouble by even mentioning it to the Pharaoh. But soon a story of deceit, corruption and injustice comes out and young Kamen is trapped between factions and linked to the mysterious madwoman of Aswat in ways he never dreamed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Twelfth Transforming

 This is the story of the XVIII Dynasty (2,500 years ago) Pharaoh Akhenaten whose rebellious dismissal of the pantheon of Egyptian gods and the powerful priests who control the wealth of the temples, lead to a catastrophic reign in Egyptian history.

I was friendly with Shirley MacLaine’s secretary once upon a time in the 80′s. She took me to the most astonishing place. It was a Victorian house in Capital Hill in Denver. A beautiful mansion swarming with people. Inside it was like stepping into an Egyptian tomb. Every surface was painted in real gold with hierglyphs of the Egyptian god Aten and images of Akhenaten the Pharaoh. There was a shadowy auditorium where we sat until a big bald man in a loin cloth rang a big gong and then out came a man who claimed to be the reincarnation of Akhenaten. He said he was one of the rulers of the world, the few who decided which things happened and controlled Presidents and Kings. I don’t know about any of that. But he did have a very cool house. So technically, I may have met Akhenaten. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Scroll of Saqqara

 

The brother of the Pharaoh and son of the great Ramses II is called Prince Khaemwaset. He has a happy life. He is a respected physician, historian, expert in ancient Egypt. He  has a loving wife and child. His burning ambition is to find the tomb that holds the Scroll of Thoth which he believes will give him power over death. You know what they say about be careful what you wish for? Yeah. He finds it.

This book is sometimes called Mirage.

 

 

 

 

Other (Non-Egypt) novels by Pauline Gedge

Pauline Gedge has also wrote The Eagle and The Raven, about the Boudicca, a famous female warrior in ancient Britain. I remember hearing that Fergie the Dutchess of York, wife of Prince Andrew, saying how inspired she was by Boudicca. Stargate is another title of a Gedge novel but I can’t find out much about it.  The Covenant is an erotic novel of an aristocratic Vampire who awakens after a century asleep.

 

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Tags: Ancient Egypt, Egypt, Hatshepsut, historical fiction, Huy, Nefertari, Pauline Gedge, Thu