Beyond knowing that Egypt is a country in Africa, and recognising Cleopatra's name from history class, I knew very little about her until I picked up this recent release by Saara El Arifi which has been gaining online attention in the book world.
Also, this is my first time reading this author and with this finely written piece of hers, I'm sold. The way she humanises Cleopatra while adding creative fantasy elements will draw you into this story.
Written in first-person voice, the prologue lands with taut suspense when Cleopatra says,
You know my name, but you do not know me…I am Cleopatra. This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived.
Her story begins at the age of eighteen, when she becomes Pharaoh. She's playing a game with her companion and handmaiden, Charmion, when a servant arrives and bows, announcing that she's needed at the palace because her sick father is dead. She struggles for a long moment about her readiness and worthiness to take the throne because the royals are born with a birthmark that ties them to an Egyptian god or goddess and as they grow, a special gift is given to them by this god validating them for the throne. Cleopatra has the birthmark of Isis, the goddess of health, but she has no gift.
Thereafter, she swims through the Nile to get to the palace. She takes the throne alongside her teenage brother, Theo. As she begins to reign and set things right, her siblings oppose her rule secretly, especially based on her suspected lack of gift. When her life and throne are in danger, she seeks a way to fight back and that's when Julius Caesar comes into her life and her monarchical journey truly begins.
Genres: Speculative Memoir, Fantasy, Magic Realism
Publication: February 2026
Pages: 352
My Review And Rating
This book is one of the best that I've read this year. As noted earlier, I love the tone of this author. Cleopatra is one of many historical figures whose story has been maligned and twisted, often through rage-fuelled writings that reduce her to a seductress rather than recognise her as a leader. She even states in this book that her story will be edited, her life's work overlooked and legacy reduced to her beauty and seduction. She ruled Egypt as Pharaoh from 51 BC to 30 BC.
I like that this author tells the story from Cleopatra's point of view, making this book more like a speculative memoir with bits of fantasy, magic realism and political intrigue thrown in. And she does this excellently. The narrator sets her story straight while using footnotes to explain some historical references or correct some misconceptions.
The writing style is smooth, even paced and gripping. Cleopatra speaks to us readers and sometimes hints at future events or past occurrences in a sentence or two before she returns back to her narration. This is not taxing because she doesn't get sidetracked but drops these hints as crumbs to ready us for what is to come.
This author did a stellar job bringing this icon to life as a daring, empathetic woman and mother with a strong moral compass contrary to what some historians have written about her. We see the human side of this woman and strive to understand her better. She's also a scholar who loved research, knowledge and was skilled in the arts of herbalism and healing. If that's not a gift from Isis, I don't know what it is. But like most of us, she struggles with knowing herself, fear and uncertainty despite being a leader and this enabled her enemies to strike at her.
This book portrays the better side of her but we are not shielded from some of her wrong decisions and actions. She faces the perils of war, betrayals, the painful blows of misogyny and prejudices.
Another interesting part of this book is her first love which she reveals thus,
You speak of my many lovers but few of you acknowledge my first, and perhaps my only true love. Egypt.
And her two love interests: Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonicus. If you hope for spice or steamy scenes, there are none in this book. The author tells these romances with grace, softness and a sophistication that makes us swoon. These men not only help Cleopatra explore her femininity but also embolden her as the ruler Egypt needed.
Rating this book, I'd give it 5 stars without apology. There's a beautiful depth to this book that I can't cover in one review. Saara El-Arifi did an impressive job with this book and it's at the top of my favourites.
This is a book I'd recommend every emotionally intelligent woman to read. It brings the understanding that history is not often fact as we know it but a perspective built on the writer's bias. Women have been misconstrued, silenced and slut-shamed throughout history even into this present day. Once the pen is handed to a man to write about her, the account is often neither true nor complete. And the distorted versions become the woman people know and remember. That in itself bears a resemblance to death.
And as El-Arifi's Cleopatra rightly noted, we all know her name but we'll never truly know her.
All images above are from my E-library
Note: Excerpts are from the novel
Header images compiled in Canva.
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