The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
by Margaret George
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Book Summary Information
Author: Margaret GeorgeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-05-15
ISBN: 0312187459
Number of pages: 976
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Book Reviews of The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
Book Review: Cleopatra, Wife, Mother, Queen, Goddess
Summary: 5 Stars
I must say, with all honesty and after great contemplation and analysis, that this is, in my opinion, the finest novel to have ever graced this earth.
Though extremely long, this "autobiography" has the reader's attention from its melancholy opening, to its gripping and heart-wrenching finish. This book recounts the much too short but very eventful life of Cleopatra VII, the last Macedonian queen of Egypt, the last of a long line ruling over the free peoples of Egypt. This book paints a portrait of the dazzling queen, and depicts her not as the ambitous and greedy vixen her enemies would have liked us to think she was, but rather as a moral and agreeable character: kind, clever, witty, brilliant at times, affectionate, and reasonable. Everything the modern world knows about the famous queen was written by her enemies. There are no accounts that exist today pleading her case, and so Margaret George has made one, one as accurate as anything Plutarch wrote.
In the beginning of the book which is divided into ten "scrolls" plus another at the end, Cleopatra is a clever and ambitious young princess, the apple of her father's eye, who develops a love of her country, Egypt, that no other Ptolemy possessed. She goes to great lengths to learn Egyptian, something no other Ptolemy did, and visit the ancient sites of Egypt. Meeting her childhood friends, later to be her trusted physician Olympos, and her closest friend, the euneuch Mardian, at the age of seven, she develops a thirst to free her country from Roman debt and looming threat.
The book then speeds up, as Cleopatra, after a long war against her brother, is placed on the throne with the help of Julius Caesar, who has come to Alexandria to make peace between the siblings, and becomes the young queen's lover, and later husband. The story unfolds: Cleopatra's journey to Rome, the assasination of Caesar, her love affair with Marcus Antonius, her trip to Meroe, the wonderful prosperity she creates for her country, the heartbreak she faces, the battles she endures against her enemy the endlessly conniving and cruel Octavian, and her defeat at Actium.
A beautiful picture of Alexandria, and Rome is painted in this novel, and what it must have been like to live there. The reader can see the umbrella pines of Rome swaying in the wind and feel the light rain on their faces of a Roman spring, and smell the Mediterranean as they stand in the Temple of Isis on Pharos overlooking the dazzling sea, and the city that rose from nothing to make all of Rome and the Western World tremble thanks to one resourceful, ambitious, and wonderful woman.
Cleopatra's children are wonderful and loving, as clever maybe as she, and their story is perhaps as tragic as hers., all the more meaningful their tale is that the already learned reader knows that they are to be executed in the desert, or dragged away in chains to the streets of Rome.
Then finally, the last scene in the life of the great queen unfolds: her death. Cleopatra begs Octavian who has taken everything from her: her city, her country, her children, her pride, to let her visit the mausoleum of Antony, who has killed himself. Octavian lets her do this, and with her most trusted friends and service she enjoys a sumptous meal, performs the funerary rituals for Antony, and writes a last letter to Octavian, before taking her own life using an Egyptian asp, a story everyone knows. George tells it in such a tragic but wonderful way, one that leaves the reader dazed and sad, yet full of hope and admiration for such an admirable and misunderstood figure in history.
This book is beautiful. Its exciting, joyful, and horribly sad all at once. I had never respected Cleopatra as a historical figure, and had thought her overdone and overrated. But this magnificent tale of love, hate, passion, power, ambition, murder, greed, and splendor brings the Queen herself back to life...her wit and charm...her intelligence, and the everlasting lure of Cleopatra VII.
Summary of The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
Bestselling novelist Margaret George brings to life the glittering kingdom of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, in this luch, sweeping, and richly detailed saga. Told in Cleopatra's own voice, this is a mesmerizing tale of ambition, passion, and betrayl, which begins when the twenty-year-old queen seeks out the most powerful man in the world, Julius Caesar, and does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Antony, she plots her own death rather than be paraded in triumph through the streets of Rome.
Most of all, in its richness and authenticity, it is an irresistible story that reveals why Margaret George's work has been widely acclaimed as "the best kind of historical novel, one the reader can't wait to get lost in." (San Francisco Chronicle).
Most of all, in its richness and authenticity, it is an irresistible story that reveals why Margaret George's work has been widely acclaimed as "the best kind of historical novel, one the reader can't wait to get lost in." (San Francisco Chronicle).
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