Review: Egypt's Sister by Angela Hunt

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Chava, the Jewish daughter of a royal tutor, vowed to be faithful to her childhood friend Queen Cleopatra. But after they argue, Chava is ripped from her family and her privileged life and sold into slavery. When she finds herself alone in Rome, she must choose between love and honor, between her own desires and God’s will.

My Thoughts:

Egypt’s Sister by author Angela Hunt is a rich historical read that we are given a front row seat to watch as the events of the rise of the Roman Empire take place. We take this journey with Chava a young Jewish woman who has grown up as the best friend of Urbi (future Cleopatra) in Alexandria the center of knowledge and education. I would say that this is a coming of age story that shows the growth and maturity of Chava, as she watches the world around her and the world that she thought she knew change so abruptly that it was frightening.

Chava is at first a very naïve and stubborn young lady in her views and her opposition to marriage that her father so wants her to do. She is also very loyal to her best friend, Cleopatra, so much so that she forgoes the whole idea of marriage to anyone so that she may be at Cleopatra’s side and her beck in call. I considered this rather foolish of her, understanding the whys but I just felt that she was very narrow minded in her conclusions. The author did an excellent job at showing her growth especially after all she had to endure. We also get a look at what being a friend to a very powerful political person would look like. There is great betrayal and hardship that Chava must endure yet she meets some of the most powerful men of that time; Julius Caesar, Octavian, Marc Antony, and Agrippa.

There was much to process as I read this book; the history I was familiar with but the author really shined a new light on the brutality of the ruling Triumvirate that was very frightening. This was a gritty, lush historical that focuses on the time of history and the set up for when the long awaited Messiah would arrive into the world. And as always, I appreciated the author’s notes on what was real and what was fiction.

A quote from the book that has really stuck with me is found on pg. 265 by Chava: “I kept thinking of something I once read from Euripides: “Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.”

I received a copy of this novel for free from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.