I initially decided to read the book for two reasons. One, the author has been very successful in the past with previous books (Letters from a Lighthouse for example), and even though I have not read any, I have seen good reviews of them. She is very well known for her historical fiction novels. Secondly, the book is set in Ancient Egypt, which I will be teaching to my class soon (I am a primary school teacher). The opening lines, make for an exciting start, ‘One filthy wet Wednesday morning, the world stopped making sense’, and the gruesome discovery in the newspaper is a great hook. However, initially, for some reason, and I haven’t been able to work out why, I did not bond with the characters and felt that their speech was very stale and computer like. Having said that, after a couple of chapters the strength of the story really took hold of me, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen. The story continues at a pace and weaves between London, modern Egypt and Ancient Egypt. Perhaps, as you get to know the characters and their emotional journey, the connection is more pure? I really did feel that by the end I had actually learnt some great facts about London at that time, and Egypt in the ancient times – a real achievement for a children’s story!
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