Mesu Andrews, author of The
Pharaoh’s Daughter, warns in her Note
to Reader that “The names and themes of this book are complex” and she is
right. They are in fact so complex that
even by the end of the book, I was still having a hard time keeping them
straight. It was not just the names of
people that were complex, but the titles of people (mother, father, aunt), as
well as the names of objects. Ms.
Andrews does include a genealogy and map of Egypt, but I would have very much
appreciated a glossary as well. The
confusion of who was who and what was what actually took away from the enjoyment
of the story for me.
That being said, however, the story was very good. Of course the original story, straight from
the pages of Scripture—the story of Moses and the Pharaoh’s daughter who
rescued him from the Nile River is exciting all by itself. The record of Moses’ birth and childhood is
contained in the Bible in Exodus 2:1-10, with the history of what was happening
in Egypt in that time recorded in Exodus chapter 1. These 32 verses are the basis of the entire
book, The Pharaoh’s Daughter.
Ms. Andrews took the story a step further and (obviously)
did much historical research to flesh the story out. She includes many details about the culture
and traditions of the day, the historical figures, their dress, work and
food. All her research and details
really made the story and its characters come alive! That’s what I love about historical Christian
fiction that is based on actual Bible characters, it makes them very real to
me. Mesu Andrews did a wonderful job of
that—making Moses and his adopted mother, the Pharaoh’s daughter come alive,
not to mention their other family members and the rulers of day.
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for
this review.
