I was really looking forward to reading this one after coming across a review for it at work. Fans of ancient Egypt will enjoy diving into this fictionalized work that brings the reader through a majority of the life of the great queen Nefertiti.

The tale is told by her younger sister Mutnodjmet, or Muty. At the beginning, are in their teens and their is a strong talk that one of them is destined to marry a future pharaoh because it is tradition that women in their family have done that. In fact, their aunt Tiye is the current queen. Her first son Thothmose is considered the favorite because he represents everything a good leader should: strong abilities in hunting and warcraft, an ability to lead, and a focus on Egypt itself. His younger borther Amunhotep the Younger is more of an intellectual.

After Thothmose dies under very mysterious circumstances, Amunhotep is chosen to be the future pharaoh after the death of his father and is appointed as co-ruler. It is not long before the 15-year-old Nefertiti marries the 17-year-old Pharaoh. They end up becoming a powerful couple, setting their sights on raising up the god Aten as the ultimate god over all others in Egypt in an attempt to remove the growing influence of the priesthood of the god Amun.

Once the Elder dies, the couple moves the capital from the traditional location at Thebes and build a new one in the middle of the desert at Armana. This new city has a new focus on the ruling couple and causes Egypt to become less concerned with outside forces and powers.

The book is filled with intrigue as various families vie for influence. Amunhotep, who becomes Akenaten, has a second wife named Kiya who shakes things up when she gives birth to a son and possible heir named Nebernefer. Things become quite tense as Nefertiti continues to give birth to children ... each of them a girl.

The relationship between Nefertiti and her sister is a loving one, but one that is fraught with all sorts of challenges as Nefertiti's taste for power and honors often overcomes the way she should be treating her Mutnodjmet. This takes on even greater importance as Muty has to deal with the possibility that her sister arranged to bring about Muty's miscarriage and the arrest of her husband.

I couldn't read this one fast enough. Moran does a wonderful job of painting the lifestyle of the time period while filling it with realistic portrayals of important individuals from the time period. She draws in the conclusions of recent theories about Nefertiti, particularly those of Joann Fletcher, to try to find a conclusion as to what happened to one of Egypt's most beautiful and influential women. Overall, it is a nice combination of good writing, interesting presentation of fact, and entertainment.