Nephthys is a novel that weaves together Egyptian mythology and the Victorian Era, particularly focusing on the exploration and pillaging of Egypts rich history. 

 

The story was well written, in a manner that is evocative and engaging and I could vividly picture the events unfolding as I read.  Both the settings in England and Egypt were descriptive and detailed.  Character wise, Clementine was well rounded and had great development.  She goes from sheltered and naively following her fathers instructions, to independent and actively questioning everything, her loyalty to her sister is one of her chief qualities.  It took me some time to warm to Rowland as a character and Oswald kind of melted into the background, Celia was an interesting character who had an interesting duality against Clemmy (though two ‘C’ names had me rereading some sections). 

 

Mythology was woven into the story incredibly well, this is quite a difficult thing to do, considering the variations between the different versions and different translations.  There was a great deal of historical and geographic accuracy, that showed that this book was incredibly well researched.  The themes of sisterhood were strong and shown in the connection between Clementine and Rosetta, but additionally between Isis and Nephthys, their mythology is woven into the story.  Additionally, themes of repatriation and the impacts of colonialism were worked in, this was done in an interesting manner by working in the idea of a curse.  Repatriation is something I am incredibly passionate about and I was incredibly pleased to see it play out in the story and watch Clemmie and Rowland in particular become more and more aware of the need for items of cultural heritage to remain or be returned to their country of origin. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and am grateful to Netgalley and the Publisher Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own