Cleopatra's Shadows
Emily Holleman
Formats & Editions
Three sisters. One throne.
An epic battle begins.
Abandoned by her beloved older sister Cleopatra and an indifferent father, Arsinoe, a young Egyptian princess, must fight for survival in the bloodthirsty royal court after her half-sister Berenice seizes power.
But despite using her quick-wits to win Berenice's favour, Arsinoe struggles to establish herself in a uncertain new world, one that carries her from the conspiratorial dangers of the palace, to the streets of war-torn Alexandria.
Meanwhile, her other sister, the usurper Berenice, has her own demons to confront - her cruel, flagging mother, a pair of fickle husbands, and the ever-present threat that her father will return from exile-as she fights to hold the throne as the first queen of Egypt in a thousand years.
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Praise for Cleopatra's Shadows
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Magnificent... The vivacity, the verve, the sense of bone deep truth of the writing - all are superb. Some writers seem destined to unearth the truth of a time and a place and a set of people: Mary Renault and Alexander, Hilary Mantel and Thomas Cromwell and now Emily Holleman and the last generation of Ptolemies. There's a freshness to the prose that is truly captivating, and a dynamism to the narrative that gives life to the people whose names are otherwise a footnote in history. - Manda ScottCleopatra is a minor character in this novel, with Holleman telling the story from the points of view of Bernice and Arsinoe. This produces an engaging story of family dynamics, trust and politics, as both sisters try to survive in the new world. An excellent debut from Holleman about two sisters often forgotten by history. - Sydney Morning Herald
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