4.5 Stars
The Sekhmet Bed takes us deep into ancient Egypt, and I relished the way Hawker brought that elusive part of humanity's journey to life. The story centers on life at court, and is told through the eyes of Ahmose – a Royal second daughter who unexpectedly becomes Pharaoh's first wife, a position, according to custom, her elder sister, Mutnofret, should have attained.
Ahmose is 'God-chosen' and her special connection to the great Gods of Egypt was one of my favourite threads in the story. I'm a fantasy fiction fan, so this 'supernatural' element was right up my alley. The gods would talk to Ahmose in her dreams, and she would interpret their messages. Her predictions were eerily true.
Much of the tension in the story, particularly in the first half of the book, came from the turbulent relationship between Ahmose and her sister. This made for riveting reading, although at times I felt as though more backstory, and perhaps attention to their younger days would have made Mutnofret's and Ahmose's motivations more understandable – but this is a small quibble.
The story is highly focused on the inner life of Ahmose, while secondary focus is given to her sister and the husband they share, the Pharaoh Thutmose. While I enjoyed the development of their characters and their relationships, I would have liked to have seen more detail on other elements of Egyptian royal life. The role of sitting on the throne in judgement in the Egyptian royal court was referred to many times, and Ahmose's frustrations about her shared rule with her sister made for great tension, however we were only allowed a 'close up' view of what court entailed once. I would have appreciated a wider view of the process. In short, the story has an incredibly 'up close' view of Ahmose, but other things in the royal court are sacrificed because of it, and I felt curious about them, but my curiosity about these wider elements was not really satisfied.
One thing I loved about Hawker's writing was the way she introduced us to many unusual terms (for those of us not overly familiar with Egyptology) in such a natural way. She didn't hit us on the head with explanations of what they mean in modern day terms, rather she let the context and the story do the work for us. I had no idea what 'Maat' meant when I started reading, and not once did I look it up. But, now I feel like I probably have a better understanding than if I had looked it up, as Hawker shows us what it meant to Egyptians rather than telling us. I really enjoyed such natural context setting in the story.
Overall, this is a well researched historical novel with fully fleshed characters, outstanding writing and a sweeping plot. An excellent read!
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A strange tale of Ancient Egypt
Reviewed in Australia on August 30, 2021