The Double Crown

"I am the chosen of the Gods. I have always known that. This knowledge has been the source of my strength and power, and it is the reason why I know that those who now seek my death and desire to usurp my throne shall not succeed."Marie Heese breathes literary life into the bare historical bones of ancient Egypt's female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, with breathtaking success. She recuperates ancient Egypt for contemporary gender politics while also providing a highly imaginative account of how life may have been lived in the ancient world. A female leader who realizes her political ambitions in a male world, constantly confronting the challenges of wielding state power at an enormous personal cost, Hatshepsut provides a wonderful protagonist for a modern feminist readership. Hatshepsut's voice is compelling, direct, insistent and totally believable.