Book Review: Cleopatra's Daughter

Yesterday, while Alex was sick asleep in bed, I finished Cleopatra's Daughter. I was sad to finish it and have the story end, though I was thankful that there was an 'afterward' that told what happened to many of the main characters. This was my second book by Michelle Moran and, like Madame Tussaud, it was an amazing book!

This book of historical fiction follows the life of Cleopatra's daughter, Selene, starting on the dreadful day when Rome's Octavian conquers Egypt. Selene and her ten-year-old twin brother, Alexander, are taken away on her mother's own boat to be captives in Rome. The hope of both children is to one day return to Egypt as rulers.

 

The book gives an amazing glimpse into this time in Roman history a little over 2,000 years ago: customs, clothing, religion, architecture, and more! Although I've heard of the horrible acts that took place in the Colloseum, I was saddened and sickened to read of other atrocities. (And yet, the story also included hope and love.) We are planning our first trip to Italy this summer, and I will definitely look at it through different eyes then I would have before reading this book.