Empress of the Nile

 Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples From Destruction- Lynne Olson

Random House

Release Date: February 28, 2023

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In the 1960s, the world’s attention was focused on a nail-biting race against time: Fifty countries contributed nearly a billion dollars to save a dozen ancient Egyptian temples, built during the height of the pharaohs’ rule, from drowning in the floodwaters of the massive new Aswan High Dam. But the extensive press coverage at the time overlooked the gutsy French archaeologist who made it all happen. Without the intervention of Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, the temples would now be at the bottom of a vast reservoir. It was an unimaginably large and complex project that required the fragile sandstone temples to be dismantled, stone by stone, and rebuilt on higher ground.

A willful real-life version of Indiana Jones, Desroches-Noblecourt refused to be cowed by anyone or anything. During World War II she joined the French Resistance and was held by the Nazis; in her fight to save the temples she challenged two of the postwar world’s most daunting leaders, Egypt’s President Nasser and France’s President de Gaulle. As she told a reporter, “You don’t get anywhere without a fight, you know.”

Yet Desroches-Noblecourt was not the only woman who played an essential role in the historic endeavor. The other was Jacqueline Kennedy, who persuaded her husband to call on Congress to help fund the rescue effort. After years of Western plunder of Egypt’s ancient monuments, Desroches-Noblecourt did the opposite. She helped preserve a crucial part of Egypt’s cultural heritage, and made sure it remained in its homeland.

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Historian Lynne Olson, best known for her fantastic books on little known aspects of World War II history,  (Last Hope Island) gives us another little known but hugely influential story in Empress of the Nile. Along the lines of Madame Fourcade's Secret War, Empress of the Nile focuses on a Frenchwoman- Christine Desroches-Noblecourt, a resistance fighter during World War II. But what I thought would be the most interesting part of her story ended up being only a small part, and by no means the most fascinating.

Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt was fascinated by Egypt from a young age and was fortunate enough to have parents who supported her in following her dreams. She became the first female archaeologist and Egyptologist in France, facing incredible hostility from the men in her field, who didn't want her on dig sites. They disliked her presence in general, her talent and intelligence, her familiarity and positive working relationship with the local Egyptian workers, and her successes. When not on a dig in Egypt she was working at the Louvre. As the Nazi threat began to loom, the Louvre packed up its treasures and shipped them to different places for protection, with Christiane helping catalog, pack, and transport the Egyptian collections. She remained in Paris during the occupation and was part of the first resistance group against the Nazis, a fascinating collection of men and women who were mostly museum workers but were able to help hide escaping POWs in their museums and get them to safety, among many other things. When Christiane was arrested, questioned, and then released by Nazi officers she knew she would be under surveillance and backed away from the group to keep her friends in the movement safe. While I thought this early part of her life would have been the most fascinating, what really captivated me was what came after the war. Christiane worked with Egyptian officials, UNESCO, and other agencies during the 1960s to save Abu Simbel, the Temple at Philae, and other priceless monuments from being lost to flooding with the building of the new Aswan High Dam. She was the visionary and the driving force behind the effort, even though she received little credit then or now. It was Desroches-Noblecourt who brought experts and professionals from around the world together to work on a project with no political motivation, just pure desire to save archaeological treasures for the good of humankind.

Lynne Olson describes the race to save Abu Simbel, the Temple of Philae, and the other endangered monuments in breathtaking details that leave the reader's heart racing, desperate to find out what will happen next and how they will succeed. What will go wrong? How will they triumph? What political disasters will get in the way? The reader feels some of what Desroches-Noblecourt must have felt as she worked nonstop to save the temples. Along the way I learned a lot about the politics of Egypt, from when France and England took over during the 1800s through the 1960s and how the world's politics affected Egyptology. And how this can be overcome when a few voices prove what really matters.  

Empress of the Nile is a fascinating story of the little known life of Christiane Desroche-Noblecourt and her life long dedication to discovering, interpreting, and preserving Egypt's past. Carefully researched and beautifully written, this is the story of a strong and dedicated woman who inspired generations of archaeologists, and should inspire future generations of people to go for their dreams, no matter how impossible they seem. Because sometimes, you can move mountains.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

 

Before Mrs. Beeton

Before Mrs. Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England's Most Influential Housekeeper- Neil Buttery

Pen & Sword Books

Release Date: February 28, 2023

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:  The great Elizabeth Raffald used to be a household name, and her list of accomplishments would make even the highest of achievers feel suddenly impotent. After becoming housekeeper at Arley Hall in Cheshire at age twenty-five, she married and moved to Manchester, transforming the Manchester food scene and business community, writing the first A to Z directory and creating the first domestic servants registry office, the first temping agency if you will. Not only that, she set up a cookery school and ran a high class tavern attracting both gentry and nobility. 

These achievements gave her notoriety and standing in Manchester, but it all pales in comparison to her biggest achievement; her cookery book The Experienced English Housekeeper. Published in 1769, it ran to over twenty editions and brought her fame and fortune.

But then disaster; her fortune lost, spent by her alcoholic husband. Bankrupted twice, she spent her final years in a pokey coffeehouse in a seedy part of town.

Her book, however, lived on. Influential and often imitated (but never bettered), it became the must-have volume for any kitchen, and it helped form our notion of traditional British food as we think of it today.

To tell Elizabeth’s tumultuous rise and fall story, historian Neil Buttery doesn’t just delve into the history of food in the eighteenth century, he has to look at trade and empire, domestic service, the agricultural revolution, women’s rights, publishing and copyright law, gentlemen’s clubs and societies, the horse races, the defeminization of midwifery, and the paranormal, to name but a few.

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Before Mrs. Beeton, there was Elizabeth Raffald, a one woman powerhouse who worked hard to become an incredible success, and deserves to be far more well known than she is today. Elizabeth began as a servant, worked her way up to (a surprisingly young) housekeeper, and after marrying John Raffald moved to Manchester where she had a confectioner's shop, catered fine meals, built a servant's hiring agency, wrote a best-selling cookery book based on the idea that the developing middle-class and servants (housekeepers etc.) wanted to know the best ways to economically cook excellent meals, plain meals, fancy desserts, and everything in between. 

This book does a really great job of giving the reader a good feel for where Elizabeth is historically and socially- she works to build up her social status and wealth without ever shocking the society around her. She plays by the rules, but she has a brilliant sense for business opportunities and timing that allow her to become an incredibly influential woman in Manchester, and author Neil Buttery argues, brings Manchester up with her. There is excellent additional research on life in eighteenth century England at different levels of society, the changes England's global empire were making back home, wonderful information on what it was like being a servant in these changing times when so many were leaving the country for city life, fascinating food history, and more. We get to see some of Elizabeth's recipes with modern adjustments in case anyone is adventurous enough to try them at home, and more.

As people once again become interested in food history and the people connected to making important contributions to national food as we might still know it today, Elizabeth Raffald will surely become a more known and celebrated name. This well-written and well-researched book will hopefully help to play a part in getting the word out. I'm certainly glad I found it!!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Bloodstained Shade

 

The Bloodstained Shade (Aven Cycle #3)- Cass Morris

Published by Cass Morris

Release Date: January 31, 2023

Warning: Some Spoilers Ahead!

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Latona of the Vitelliae, mage of Spirit and Fire, lies still as death. Her fate rests in the hands of her allies, who must redeem her soul from the churning void where Corinna, leader of a banished Discordian cult, has trapped it.

Protected by a cabal of corrupt priests and politicians, Corinna plans her most daring assault yet: a ritual striking at the ancient heart of Aven, with the power to swallow the city in a maw of chaos and strife. Her success would be Aven's doom, and the greatest violence would fall upon the most vulnerable.

Before Sempronius Tarren can join Aven's defense—and his beloved Latona—at home, he must end the war abroad, outwitting the blood-soaked machinations of his Iberian opponents. His own magical talents remain hidden, but dire circumstances tempt him to succumb to ambition and use forbidden tactics to hasten the way to victory.
To defeat Corinna, Aven's devoted protectors will need to perform extraordinary magic, rally support from unexpected quarters, and face the shadows on their own souls.

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In The Bloodstained Shade, Cass Morris saves her devoted fans (and main character Latona) from the cliffhanger ending she left us with in Give Way To Night. But she doesn't make anything easy on her characters, clearly being an author who believes that roasting characters in a fire brings out their strongest qualities. Latona and Vibia remain the two main Aven-centered characters, although I was glad to see sisters Aula and Alhena getting more of a role here as well. Both sisters continue to develop as strong secondary characters, willing to face their fears despite the risks, and I'm hoping for even more from them in the next book, particularly from Alhena and her magic. 

We get to see Sempronius, Latona's brother Vitellius, and their allies finish the war in Iberia, and I liked how Morris wrapped that up. enemies became allies, but even among the enemies and the terrible things they were doing, there was a deep humanity to every action. Morris examines how different people handle the gruesomeness of war- this kind of war in particular- in different ways, and can come back sometimes changed for the better, or at least come back thinking differently. Sempronius gets a few shocks along the way and didn't really know what to do with them, or his emotions, or the idea of possibly being vulnerable in any way. I have to admit I rather enjoyed that- suddenly he became a very human character, realizing the mistakes he was making and what he was risking in a way that his confidence had never allowed him to do before. I also have to admit, I'm pretty worried for what Morris is setting him up for in the next book, with a few of the not-very-subtle clues she dropped in this one.  

One of the messages I loved in this book was the idea that we are who we make ourselves. Corinna may get to say it best when she chides Latona for trying to tell Corinna's story. "Never try to reduce another woman down to something smaller than she is" Corinna tells Latona. Corinna has refused to allow that to happen to her from the beginning. But it's a fight Latona's had across the whole series, being made smaller than she is and gradually growing out of that- although it is something she still fights with here. One of the reasons enemies fear Latona (and Sempronius) is for trying to step out of their normal roles in society and reach for something bigger. Throughout the book, and the series, is always the question, will we give in to temptation? Will we blame someone else for out actions? Or will we, in the end, accept that we are both the good and the bad of ourselves, and that can make us weak, or incredibly, unbelievably, strong and united.

Full of fast-paced scenes, and excellent writing, with vastly different characters and places woven together into a brilliant and heart-pounding finale. Secondary characters continue to shine and develop, our main characters continue to show strengths and flaws enough to keep them both likable and relatable. Cass Morris' Aven continues to shine as an ancient Rome-inspired world built into something new and different, and I can't wait for the next book in this incredible series.  

Bloodstained Shade starts with a very good "previously in Aven" summary for readers who didn't reread the first two books before starting Book 3, but I wouldn't recommend starting Shade without having read  From Unseen Fire and Give Way to Night first. This is a series that build from one book to the next.