The Stolen Queen - BookWyrm

Hardcover, 352 pages

English language

Published Jan. 7, 2025 by Dutton.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-47427-3

(1 review)

From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.

Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same.

New York City, 1978: Eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for iconic former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.” Though Annie soon realizes she’ll have her work cut out for her, scrambling to meet Diana’s capricious demands and exacting standards.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, now leading a quiet …

From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.

Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same.

New York City, 1978: Eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for iconic former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.” Though Annie soon realizes she’ll have her work cut out for her, scrambling to meet Diana’s capricious demands and exacting standards.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art, wants little to do with the upcoming gala. She’s consumed with her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.

That is, until the night of the gala. When one of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing . . . and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening.

As Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they’re to have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.

3 editions

Susanna Sullivan, Author reviewed Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

None

4 stars

NetGalley provided a pre-publication copy of the book for me in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a sucker for a good book about Egyptology. This one was interesting because parts of it took place in Egypt in the 1930s, and parts of it in 1978-79 in New York City and Egypt.

Charlotte Cross has been an assistant curator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for 15 years, and was on staff for two decades before that. She truly loves her job, but she’s never advanced beyond assistant because something is preventing her from returning to Egypt for further study.

When she was only 19, she was on the staff of an archaeological dig in Egypt as a young woman in the early 30s, a time when women were expected to devote their lives to marriage and children. But something happened there, something terrible, and she’s never …

NetGalley provided a pre-publication copy of the book for me in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a sucker for a good book about Egyptology. This one was interesting because parts of it took place in Egypt in the 1930s, and parts of it in 1978-79 in New York City and Egypt.

Charlotte Cross has been an assistant curator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for 15 years, and was on staff for two decades before that. She truly loves her job, but she’s never advanced beyond assistant because something is preventing her from returning to Egypt for further study.

When she was only 19, she was on the staff of an archaeological dig in Egypt as a young woman in the early 30s, a time when women were expected to devote their lives to marriage and children. But something happened there, something terrible, and she’s never gone back.

Until a unique artifact is loaned to the museum by an anonymous donor, and she recognizes it as stolen. Finding out more about the mysterious donor sends Charlotte on a mission of discovery that turns her life upside down.

Charlotte embarks on a mission to track down the mysterious donor and find out how the item came into their hands, and the search helps her to put the broken pieces of her own, and several other people’s lives, back together.

If you love archaeology, Egyptology, and mysteries — as I do — you’ll enjoy The Stolen Queen.