I thought this book was really cool. Something happens between Nancy and Frank, but I'm not going to say what. Anyway, the Nancy & Frank aspect is very exciting. The action is good, the plot is good, but I mostly read these books because of Nancy and Frank. I mean, Frank's girlfriend Callie never helps on cases (she's a very wimpy girl) and we all know who would win if she and Nancy fought it out. Frank should dump the wench. Likewise with Nancy's boyfriend Ned, except that when he helps on a case, which is rare because he's always at "college" (what's he been doing there all these years, throwing frat parties?), he does something stupid like getting kidnapped. Frank and Nancy need to lose Callie and Ned, and go out with each other. Frank cares about Nancy a lot more than Ned does. Maybe Callie and Ned should hook up and leave Frank and Nancy alone. Back to the point, though, the book is really good and I think almost anyone would like it.

Hi! I haven't read this book yet, but I heard it was really good, and I have to say that I think Nancy and Frank should get together because they both like each other. Yeah I know Ned really like's Nancy and Nancy really like's Ned they are just not made for each other. Nancy like's mysteries and Ned doesn't like Nancy running after mysteries. I mean Ned cares for Nancy. Frank loves mysteries and he loves it when Nancy helps him with a mystery. I dont think Frank and Callie should be together. I have read a few of the Hardy Boys books and you almost never here about Callie. I read The Last Resort and Frank and Nancy kiss! Thats how I can tell Frank and Nancy like each other.

Hey e-mail me at onavy100@aol.com and tell me do you think Nancy Hardy sounds good or Nancy Nickerson???

I recommend this book to any book lover! It has mystery & suspense, action & adventure and romance. I love the Nancy and Frank story. He notices every little thing about her. Like how good he thought she looked when they were in the airplane and how beautiful she seemed in front of an exotic sunset backdrop. I love the part when Frank was trapped in a coffin and all his regrets and hopes all washed down on him. And when he saw all the times he could have told her how he felt. I also love the scene in the cab and they were about to kiss.

And when the case ended and Frank and Nancy went out to the hotel's balcony and it was Nancy's turn to feel regret. That she was gonna go back to the States the next day. How she would leave the fantasy of playing Frank's wife and feeling his closeness. And how Frank sort of read her mind, turned her around and kissed her. And how she pulled back because she felt guilty. and the funny part when Bess walked in on their intimate and serious conversation about how they could never be and Frank's reluctantly agreeing with her. It was such a beautiful scene, the Egyptian desert in the background and the sun rising. And how he hugged her. They are meant to be. They shouldn't have left each other! They should've stayed together!

I had never heard of Mika Waltari until I received this book as a graduation present. I have to say, it's one of the best presents i got. The book is just fascinating, it is incredible how the author blends the life of this apparently ficticious character with the history of ancient Egypt, and even makes him a key piece in hystorical events. I highly recommend this book.

Waltari describes egyptian history and human characteristics in a way that you can't stop reading. I read Sinuhe at the age of 16. I remember it always.

Although written in the 1940's - and although the world has seen many great books since then - "Sinuhe" remains among my absolute favourites.

Based on a historical person the book takes it's reader back to old Egypt, as well as the surrounding ancient civilisations, leaving an excellent impression not only of historical events, but also of how daily life actually could have been lived.

And by the way - I'd love to have known Nefer - who had a doubtful character but was so beautiful that anyone seeing her had to repeat her name, so she became known as Nefernefernefer...

Seems as if so may of us found this book when we were in sixth grade, eh? It was fall of 1973, and I was a young and avid amateur Egyptologist. I found "The Lost Queen of Egypt" in my grammar-school library, and simply devoured it--and this at a time when every young girl seemed to be getting into that awful (well, at least to me!) "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" phase. Anyway, my mother bought me a copy of TLQOE from the local library's book sale a few months after I read it. It traveled everywhere with me over the years, and became rather badly battered. It was wonderful to have the book, even though Winifred Brunton's portrait of Ankhesenamun (sorry...I just can't do Ms. Morrison's spelling of "Ankhsenamon"; call it a transliterational preference, I guess) was missing, doubtless torn out by another admiring little girl from long ago.

Last year, my husband (who had constantly heard me praise the book and bemoan the fact that my copy was near death) surprised me one day with a package. In it was--you guessed it. He found it on an online auction...and autographed, too! I barely touch it, fearing that if I get too overzealous, it'll end up like my old copy.

Hint: if you like Ankhesenamun, please read Pauline Gedge's "Child of the Morning", a historical novel about Maat-Ka-Ra Hatshepsut (the Dynasty XVIII woman who ruled as Pharaoh). It's certainly the best of Ms. Gedge's books.

When I was a girl, there were four library books that brought ancient Egypt to life for me: Boy of the Pyramids, Mara, Daughter of the Nile; The Golden Goblet, and The Lost Queen of Egypt. I've managed to obtain used copies of the first three, but I'm still looking for this one. Those readers who, like myself, have not seen a copy in years, might wish to see a copy of The Murder of Tutankhamen: a True Story by Bob Brier. I can't speak for the paperback version because I own the hardcover, but the hardcover reproduces the same portrait of Ankhesenamen that was in The Lost Queen of Egypt. Until then I'd had only a pale photocopy I'd made over 20 years ago. Other fans of this book may understand how I felt as if I'd found an old friend when I saw that painting in color again. It was as lovely as ever. I wish J.B. Lippincott Company would reprint the book. Ann E. Nichols

Having read the other reviews on-line I feel like a Lost Queen of Egypt groupie. This is such a wonderful book that I too read as a child over 40 years ago and was fascinated. It inspired my interest in Eqyptology as well as comparative ancient history (read "Moses and Anhkenaten"). The spell of the book still lingers. I recently inadvertantly discovered that a friend of mine had also read the book as a child and feels the same way. I would very much like to have a copy and buy one for my friend. I would very much like my daughter who is the age I was when I read this wonderful book to read it.

I usually don't buy books unless 1.It's part of a series I like. 2.It's by an author I like. 3.I had borrowed it and loved it. This one wasn't any of those, but when I was browsing through the teen section of the bookstore I saw this one and remembered that it was on the "if you like this, you'll like.." list here for a book I had liked, The Reluctant God. I read the first chapter right there at the bookstore and was hooked. Just today I finished it, reading for 2 hours straight because I had to find out what was going to happen!

This I loved this book!! Of course, the story is very captivating. Spys, romance, an Ancient Egyptian setting, what more could you want? Mara was awesome! I loved her strong, clever personality. (I always like those types of girl characters, or else the tomboy type) And Sheftu! I want my own Sheftu!! There's also other interesting and endearing characters, but I can't write about them all.

There is a lot of beautiful descriptions, but I confess I would catch myself unknowingly skimming over those parts, because I was so anxious to find out what would happen next! It doesn't matter though, when I read it again (for I know I will, many times!) I can go slower and catch all those parts.

This is a must-read for anyone who has an interest in Ancient Egypt. Also, if you like a good spy/romance book, you'll love this!

I first read Mara when I was about 11, and the story gave me a love of reading and a craving to read more about Egypt and the time of the Pharoahs. When I was 17, I had already read it at least 8 or 10 more times. I finally found an old copy of it and bought it for my own. I am 48 and still love to read the story of the wiley but loveable slave girl turned spy, and her quest to find the true importance of self and sacrifice. The tale continues to thrill me with it's twists and turns. Makes me laugh and makes me want to cheer. Lord Sheftu, Princess Inanni, and Captain Nekonkh become vitally alive to the reader. The palace intrigues, and evryday living are there for the mind and heart to see and feel. This book would be a joy for any age group, and any gender. The romance, the danger, and history are well blended to entertain and make one thirst for more.

This book is the ultimate Egypt book. It is about a fictional girl named Mara who helps overthrow the Queen of Egypt, Hatshepsut. Along the way you are thrown into a world of secrecy and danger, where anything can happen at any moment. You'll be transfixed with an unsual love story, and amazed with Mara's cunning when she plays a double spy. I promise you . . . you will NOT want to put this book down!!!!!!! And your life is not complete if you don't read it! When I picked up this book in my school library, I was really interested, because I think McGraw is an awesome author. I had read her book, The Golden Goblet, in class, and loved it. So when I read this book, it was as though I knew Mara herself. McGraw paints a picture so life like, so real, that you too, like I was, will be a witness to Mara's extrordinary adventure. If your a coward, well then . . . don't read this book. If you're not, then sit back, and dare to dream.

One of the best things an historical novel can do is create a long-ago time and place for us . . . and convince us that what it has given us is how things might really have been. This THE EGYPTIAN does in spades.

The tale of an ancient Egyptian physician's life and times, this book follows the events and travels of the aptly named Sinuhe, surnamed He Who is Alone, from his mysterious birth through early childhood into young adulthood and, beyond, to the waning days of a long and troubled life. Cast out and dishonored because of youthful folly (a folly, indeed that he never seems to outgrow), Sinuhe flees the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes and enters the wider world where he becomes a true man of that world, adventurer and sojourner, physician and spy, while, all along, offering us an up-close look at that world as it might really have been. With him, we visit ancient Babylon and Hatti (land of the Hittites), and Crete where the bull dancers plied their trade. And we are carried back and forth through Egypt and Syria as Sinuhe becomes absorbed in the great events of his day as they worked themselves out on their ancient stage.

Unfortunately, Sinuhe is also a somewhat tiresome, and even foolish, character who is not always fully sympathetic as he consistently makes doltish choices and throws away what he should hold onto for his very life. He is seemingly caught up in every roiling current the world sends his way, unable to set his own course and, inevitably, an evil fate dogs his tracks for this great failing. But he is, in the process, witness to the rise and fall of the visionary pharaoh Akhenaton and to the great wars which rocked his ancient world and which eventually precipitated the fall of the mighty civilizations of the Bronze Age.

In the end, the mood is one of sorrow and resignation in the face of existence itself, a mood that is very redolent of the spirit found in the writings of those ancient times. And so Sinuhe, named for another mythical Egyptian traveler whose story has come down to us in the archaeological records, is very much a creature of his world and that, surely, is an accomplishment for any writer of historical fiction.

This is a fine piece of historical writing and one of the better renderings of ancient Egypt and its Bronze Age world that I have found. Aside from Sinuhe's foolishness, I was a little troubled by the somewhat meandering narrative approach with lengthy dead spots and constant coincidences where the same characters consistently run into each other. But basically this was a good one and the fine narrative "ear" for time and place more than offset the book's other failings. My kind of book!

SWM

In all the best selling novels sold today; there is love, lost love, hope, hopelessness, dispair, tragedy, and hope again.

These elements (in whichever order the author chooses to give them to the reader) are essential to good character development and indepth plot construction. In "The Egyptian" Mika Waltari not only manifests these 'essentials' with the gifted hand of a Houdini; he weaves them into a historical setting that virtually brings ancient Egypt alive.

No one can read this book and not experience the strength of true love; the foolishness of the human heart; the dreams men have dreamt throughout the ages; or fail to see the insight with which one man perceives himself, and those he comes in contact with. This is a must book for all:

Physicians, lovers, dreamers, and psychologists alike will walk the streets of ancient Thebes and smell the fish broiling on open braziers as the sun slowly settles into the Land of the Dead.

Walk the Black Lands. Flee to the Red Lands. Love the beautifull Nefernefer. Stand beside Pharoah. Savor the best life has to offer, then shiver at the bitter taste of misfortune. Learn life as it has never be taught before, or since.

Published originally in 1945, The Egyptian was an instant international success. It has since been translated into at least five different languages. It's time for you to find out why

Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian" tells us the story of one physician of ancient Egypt, Sinuhe, set against the background of the reign of the fourth pharaoh Amenhotep, whose attempt to impose monotheism on his polytheistic country was one of the strangest and most fascinating experiments of early civilization. Sinuhe is a foundling, adopted by a lowly physician, and in the tradition of ancient times, trained to follow in his adopted father's footsteps, coming of age at the same time a decisive event is about to take place: the death of the reigning pharaoh, Amenhotep III, around 1380 BC, and the accession of his son, Amenhotep IV, who styled himself Akhenaton.

Sinuhe is a loner and a wanderer, whose self-imposed exile from his native country takes him to Syria, the ancient Hittite kingdom of Hatti, and Crete, before finally returning to Egypt, at the same time that Akhenaton attempts to overthrow the reigning god Ammon and his priests, and install his own vision, Aton, the one and eternal god, in Ammon's place. As a political move, trimming Ammon's power in Egypt may have been a wise idea; the priests' power had grown so great that it was challenging that of pharaoh himself. But as a religious experiment it was a disaster, especially in a country as rigidly conservative as ancient Egypt where change of any kind was anathema. We see Akhenaton as a visionary out of touch with reality and with his people, a tragic figure doomed to failure. And we share Sinuhe's ambivalence about this enigmatic figure, intrigued by pharaoh's vision of one just god who brings equality to all mankind, but repelled by the spreading social chaos this vision brings with it, especially when it threatens his own security and the lives of those he loves.

Waltari bring us some of the people that have only existed in the pages of history books -- Akhenaton himself, his incredibly beautiful wife Nefertiti, his scheming, conniving mother Queen Taia, the boy king Tut, and Horemheb, the military general who became pharaoh after Akhenaton's death plunged the country into near anarchy. But "The Egyptian" fortunately doesn't read like a history textbook; Waltari makes ancient Egypt and his characters come vibrantly alive. And Sinuhe himself is wholly believable; a man of his own time and all time, sometimes wise, sometimes foolish in the extreme, trying to find his own place in his world, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. Waltari is not only a great novelist but a fine historian, and he kept the background scrupulously accurate. The book is true to its time and its location, and Naomi Walford's excellent translation into English keeps the reader moving along effortlessly from the first page to the last. "The Egyptian" is Waltari's masterpiece; it's one of the best historical novels ever written.

Elizabeth Peters is in fine form in this novel of intrigue, suspense, and love! The heroine, Dr. Vicky Bliss, an expert on Medieval art, is asked to join a cruise down the Nile to try and identify a thief, and a clever and exciting story winds all over Egypt. As always, the characters make the story and "Sir John" steals every scene. There are numerous plot twists and touches of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers which enrich this highly entertaining tale. Peters skillfully entwines wit and wisdom with passion, Egyptology, and murder.
Fans of Peters will really enjoy this book with each re-reading. The plot creation and character development are some of her best, and her humorous style makes one laugh even in the moments of greatest suspense!

Having long been a fan of Elizabeth Peters, I was ecstatic when "Night Train to Memphis", the fifth book in her Vicky Bliss series came out.

A continuation of the adventures of Doctor Vicky Bliss, a museum worker in Munich, this book follows her on a cruise down the Nile, takes her all over the Egyptian countryside, and finally ends where it started --- in Vicky's German apartment. Along the way, several recurring characters show up, including old friends and villains, the irrepressible Schmidt, and of course, Sir John Smythe; the quintessential gentleman thief and Vicky's sometimes lover. This time however, there is a small complication affecting their relationship, which leads to the miscommunication, misinterpreted signals, and missed chances that characterize Peter's books ---- and make them some of the most enjoyable mysteries on the market. The insults are quick, the Egyptology casual and comprehensive, and country music references abound.

This is a wonderful book, featuring yet another strong, smart, feminist heroine, who never crosses the line from aggressive to unlikable. While "Night Train to Memphis" can definitely stand alone, I would also reccomend the first couple of books about Vicky, "Borrower of the Night", "The Street of Five Moons", "Sillhouette in Scarlet", and "Trogan Gold".

John and Vicky are back! This is the fourth book in the wonderful Vicky Bliss series by Elizabeth Peters. If you haven't read any of the novels, the book you should be purchasing is the Street of the Five Moons. That said, Vicky receives an assignment in coordination with the Munich Police Force to travel to Egypt under the guise of a tour guide on a small luxury cruise. One of the best men in literature, the enigmatic John Smythe, also appears on the scene. The plot is superbly exexcuted, the novel is set in the Peters' area of expertise(Egypt/Egyptology), and the story flies. Peters' characters make the novel: Vicky as our sassy and intelligent heroine, John as the mysterious and witty art thief, Schmidt-the intelligent if highly eccentrict museumcurator for whom Vicky works, and villains galore. New readers really must start at the beginning. If you've read the previous Vicky Bliss novels, after finishing Night Train to Memphis, I highly reccommend you take out Camelot Caper from your local library. John DID come before Vicky, and this shows him as Peters began to form him, and explains that "first scam" John loves to makes allusions to.

This book is perfect for the Egyptian enthusist. It tells the tale of a young Egyptian prince who becomes a living god and about an archeoligist's daughter. The very idea of them meeting is absolutly amazing! When one of the two urns the prince is supposed to take care of is stolen, it's a race against time to find it! this is a great book! Highly recomended!!!!

This is a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very good book. I love it. This is a book that can make me keep on reading and never put it down. When I finish this book I start reading it again. I can never start getting bore with this book. My favorite charater is Lorna,cause she is a bookworm likw me. Also if she read this book. I bet she will like it as much as I do.

This book is the best thing I ever read. I liked all the action and all of the surprises.
I think the people who will read this book will like it very much; when I read this book I could not put it down.
People who love mystery books will like this book,too.
The Reluctant God is about a boy named Ameni and he is held back in time. When he awoke, he had to find these sacred items he was told to protect. Find out what his life was like in the future.

"The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography" by Simon Singh is a wonderful book about the history of code-making and code-breaking. What is most impressive about Singh is he is able to take the most complicated mathematical information (in my opinion) and explain it in layman's terms. Another more suitable name for "The Code Book could be Code-Making and Code-Breaking for Dummies: A Historical Perspective". Singh covers the history of encryption, tracing its evolution throughout time and outlining the impact cryptography and cryptanalysis has had on the world. World War II, the Enigma machine and how the fate of the world rested upon whether or not secret knowledge would fall into enemy hands, is discussed in great detail. From Singh's perspective, it would seem that the outcome of all military battles could be pre-determined by who had employed better cryptanalysis, as the most powerful weapon, is secrecy. Personally, what interested me most about "The Code Book" is its discussion about the Navajo Code Talkers, hieroglyphics, Linear B, and quantum cryptography. I also thoroughly enjoyed the author's humor and wit, ability to break things down so that a non-technological mind could grasp some of the most complicated of codes and his affinity for making the personalities who discovered the codes as well as the personalities who broke the codes, come to life. I would highly recommend "The Code Book" to anyone who is interested in cryptography, cryptanalysis, security, telecommunications, math, science, history or simply a good read.

This book is a eclectic mix of codemaking, codebreaking and the use of ciphers throughout history. For a beginner in cryptography, some of the technical stretches are a bit tough, but well worth the effort. I learned a lot from this book.

The first 100 pages cover the history of (western) cryptography from ancient Greek steganography through the end of the 19th century with Marconi & the invention of the Wireless. In between, he speeds through Arab cryptanalysis (a real revelation to me), the Vigenere Cipher, the Great Cipher of Louis XIV (invented by the Rossignols and broken by Bazeries), Samuel Morse & the Telegraph (better communication needed ciphers), Charles Babbage, and the Beale Papers. The author gives equal respect and technical coverage to both the cipher 'creators' as well as the cipher 'breakers'.

The next 200 pages cover 20th century topics, events and famous characters in cryptography. The Enigma Machine/Code -- designed by the Germans, then cracked by Poland (Marian Rejewski) on the eve of the German invasion; refortified by the Germans, then cracked again at Bletchley Park during WWII by a wondrous team, including Alan Turing. The Zimmerman Telegram and the Navaho Code Talkers each receive very nice treatment. Even the history of the decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Linear B (both, as it turns out, 'phonetic' codes) receive technical treatment.

Singh rounds out the historical discussion with the discoveries (or re-discoveries) of 'key exchange' by Diffie-Hellman-Markle, and complex cryptographic systems like DES and RSA encryption architecture. Phil Zimmerman and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) rate more than a dozen pages, bringing the book right into the Internet age.

The author concludes with a discussion of the Future of Cryptanalysis and Quantum Computing (including a brief tutorial on Quantum Physics for Dummies).

The book has swell appendices, a glossary, a comprehensive bibliography and an index. The author generously points the reader to David Kahn's mammoth 1200-page The Codebreakers as an "invaluable resource" (pretty classy stuff).

Mr. Singh traces the history of cryptography from its recorded inception in roman times up through current applications. While all of the chapters held my interest it was Mr. Singh's work in chapters 4 through 6 that I feel deserve particular note.

Chapter 4 deals with the war effort at Bletchley Park and the work on the Engima machine. Here Mr.Singh adds an additional dimension by providing some insight into the work of Alan Turning, the development of Colossus, the first (now reported) electronic programmable computer and the unrecognized cryptanalysts who broke Ultra and the other codes of WWII. Chapter 6 brings us up to present day cryptographic issues from RSA and PGP to philosophical issues of personal privacy in modern society with web centric commerce and online book reviews. At each step in the process Singh successfully combines the elements of a technical treatise with a human values and features. For those wanting to go a little further under the hood and look at the processes and algorithms in some of the codes mentioned in the text, several appendices at the end of the book should fill that yearning. I found the book informative and enjoyable to read.

The most striking aspect of this novel is the candor with which Soueif treats sexual themes, a radical and refreshing departure from most novels and memoirs by contemporary Middle Eastern women writers. Asya's sexual awakening occurs on the riddling boundaries between East and West, her early life in Egypt and her adult life in England. The descriptions of her childhood and adolescent days in Egypt are heart rendingly beautiful. At over eight hundred pages, the book is a quite a tome, but utterly absorbing; I read it through in a matter of sittings! The politics she charts were only vaguely known to me, and so the book also functioned as a sort of primer on Egyptian and Palestinian history of this century. Truly groundbreaking!

This is the second of Four Souief Books so far. It is a real treat, very well conceived and written. It is an excellent portorial of Egyptian society and the various coflicting influences affecting the Egyptian charachter. Ahdaf Souif paints each and every charecter in the novel in a "real" fashion, they are all very plausable in their strength, pecularities and humanities; the goodies and the badies alike are all well rounded. This does not only apply to Asya, Seif, Crissie and the other main personalities, but to the many minor ones too.

Souif painted an outstandingly accurate picture of the how a wedding, a funeral, school life and even war and politics feels like in Egypt. Souif was specially masterfull at the way she weaved the funeral scene, with her suprb translation of the Quran. I could actually picture myself in Ateba in Cairo receiving the mourners.

Ahdaf Souif's mastery of both English and Arabic comes across in every word in the book. She loves both languages and takes and gives joy in illustrating their beauity without losing the theme of the book.

The book shed a great deal of light on how Egyptian view not only themselves but also how they view the west, the arabs and also Israel. It provides a very realistic look on how integrated moslems and christians are in City life in Cairo.( at least used to be , not really sure about now)

Aisha and Sandpiper are 2 other outstnading books by AS, if you enjoy this book, you will certianly like these 2. In a funny way, some of the stories from these 2 books are intertwined with In the Eye of the Sun. You will appreciate these 2 shorter books many times more after you have read this one.

The Map of Love, her most recent book 1999, was short listed for the Booker prize (and should have won it over Disgrace which is also a fantastic book with great insight on life at the other end of the Africa) , is an excellent book but not half as good or real as this book, In The Eye Of The Sun is a real treat. I was depressed when I finshed it, I wanted more!

This was the second of Four Souief Books and her first full-length work. It is a real treat, very well conceived and written. It is an excellent portrayal of Egyptian society and the various conflicting influences affecting the Egyptian character.

Ahdaf Souif paints each and every character in the novel in a "real" fashion, they are all very plausible in their strength, peculiarities and humanities; the goodies and the "badies" alike, are all well rounded. This does not only apply to Asya, Seif, Crissie and the other main personalities, but to the many minor ones too. No cardboard here!

In part this is a story of young idealistic Egyptian girl, Asya, growing up in the quasi-socialist days of Nasser. Ahdaf Souief paints a remarkably accurate picture of life in Cairo during that era. The 1967 Six days war takes place, dreams are shattered and many lives are torn, but largely life goes on. Asya's love story in Egypt moves with her abroad as she goes to the North of England for post Graduate education. Again Souief paints a remarkable detailed and accurate picture of life in the North of England in that era. Asya struggles and adapts with life in the west. She is so very firmly anchored in her roots, upbringing, and culture; yet she still wades into The West.

Asya strengths and weaknesses as a human being dominate much of the second half of the book, all written in a gripping language that makes you feel you are right there, part of the scene. At times I wanted to shout out "leave him.. throw him out .. he's no good ..don't you see ..." or "call him ..tell him ... don't put up with that .."

Souif painted an outstandingly accurate picture of how a wedding, a funeral, school life and even war and politics feel like in Egypt. Souif was specially masterful at the way she weaved the funeral scene, with her superb translation of the Quran. I could actually picture myself in Etba in Cairo receiving the mourners.

Ahdaf Souif's mastery of both English and Arabic comes across in every word in the book. She loves both languages and takes and gives joy in illustrating their beauty without losing the theme of the book.

The book shed a great deal of light on how Egyptian view not only themselves but also how they view the west, the Arabs and also Israel. It provides a very realistic look on how integrated Moslems and Christians are in City life in Cairo. (at least used to be , not really sure about now)

Aisha and Sandpiper are 2 other outstanding books by AS, if you enjoy this book, you will certainly like these 2. In a funny way, some of the stories from these 2 books are intertwined with In the Eye of the Sun. You will appreciate these 2 shorter books many times more after you have read this one.

The Map of Love, her most recent book 1999, was short listed for the Booker prize (and should have won it over Disgrace which is also a fantastic book with great insight on life at the other end of the Africa) , is an excellent book but not half as good or real as this book, In The Eye Of The Sun is a real treat. I was depressed when I finished it, I wanted more!

Jean Sasson's debut historical novel, Ester's Child, is truly "a searing drama you'll never forget". Her three years of research paid off. It is a must read for all and is quite timely as conflict continues to brew in the Holy Land.

Sasson bought a new understanding to an ancient and complex situation. By using a German, an Arab and a Jewish family she cleverly presented three sides. Her characters are multi-dimensional and very convincing. I found myself wanting to meet them. They are all greatly missed. They continue to be with me as I read the newspaper about the conflict. Her novel put faces on all of the people we see in the news and read about in the newspaper.

Sasson wrote with sensitivity and compassion. It is clear that she has an obvious love for the people in her novel.

With a college degree in history I seek out historical fiction. Ester's Child is a new all time favorite read. I believed it was impossible for her to surpass the Princess trilogy, but she did (and I still strongly recommend them, also).

With great anticipation I look forward to Sasson's next novel!

Ester's Child, Jean Sasson's latest book and first attempt at fiction is a must read for anybody who is interested, baffled, and confused with the on-going and never-ending conflict between the people of Israel and Palestine. I have read most of Ms. Sasson's other books, all of which are nonfiction. How she was able to make the switch from writing nonfiction to fiction leaves me in awe of this incredibly talented author. Ester's Child can only be described as an epic, but unlike other sweeping historical novels, Ms. Sasson is economical in her use of words. There is not so much as a wasted sentence in the entire novel. And in spite of a large cast of characters, each one is memorable. Joseph and Ester Gale, Demetrius Antoun, Christine Kleist, and Jordan Gale evolve in Ester's Child as believably real people, living real life dramas. I will always think of them whenever I pick up a newspaper and read of the latest human tragedy in that dark and bloody ground. Likewise, there must be real people in both the Israeli and Palestinian camps who will recognize themselves and others in these characters.
If it is true that the pen is mightier than the sword, then Ms. Sasson wields one of unusual power. And if ever there was a book that should be made into a movie it is Ester's Child. I hope Stephen Spielberg reads it. I hope Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat read it, too.

I am an avid reader, reading at least one book a week, along with numerous magazines and newspapers. After 9/11, I wanted to know EVERYTHING about every reason listed telling us why certain Muslims feel they have a valid reason to attack America and Americans. I searched to find various books on the issue of Jews/Arabs and this book caught my attention. The current violence in Israel led me to buy ESTER'S CHILD by Jean Sasson. As I read this book, I was astonished at how little I really knew about the Jews & Palestinians who live in Israel. Why is this not taught in school? It creates such understanding to know the history of this age-old conflict, yet Jean Sasson teaches history in the most interesting manner--in the pages of a well-written and wonderfully compassionate book--without even trying.

Honestly, I cannot believe that this book is not required reading in high schools and universities. This is the kind of book that gets young people to reading!!! Young people are going to be running governments in just a few years and they need to know how people FEEL who live these events...

Wake up world! We must understand the history of these conflicts before we can stop them!!!

After reading this book, I felt compelled to buy everything by this author and I am starting PRINCESS when I finish this review.

I now have a new "favorite" author, JEAN SASSON.

Thank you Jean for this extremely compelling book... I encourage every one who reads this review to buy this book, absorb this book. You will be glad that you did...