The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis takes readers on a glamorous ride spanning Ancient Egypt, to the Met Gala. With a plot full of intrigue, adventure, and fabulous women carving their own paths, it’s a fun escape into the opulent and mysterious.

That said, the story feels a bit rote at times, with familiar beats and a simplicity that undercuts some of the potential depth. While it didn’t blow me away, it’s still an enjoyable read for fans of historical fiction with a modern flair. A solid pick for a weekend of chic escapism!

Thank you so much to Dutton Books for the gifted book!

WOW- this one really blew me away in the end! I am SO picky about historical fiction mostly because 1. I don't love reading about war and 2. I am usually bored to tears. Thankfully, neither of those things were an issue AT ALL in this book!

As someone who mostly reads quick thrillers where I'm on the edge of my seat, books like this require a little more focus for me and let me just say that the payoff of this one was WORTH it!

The book is told in dual timelines one taking place in Egypt in in 1936 and the other in New York City in 1978. I absolutely adored both Charlotte and Annie and felt so invested in both of their character's stories! I felt so much while reading this book and even shed a couple tears, especially at the end.

Somehow this was my first book by Fiona Davis even though a few have been on my list for a long time! I'm excited to go back and read her previous works after loving this one!

You don't want to miss this one!

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis. I have read everything by Fiona Davis and love the way she takes a NYC landmark and spins a story around it. This was has some great archaeological backstory which I found really fun and different. It was a fast read that I very much enjoyed. Highly recommended!

When I finish a book and immediately google and watch videos about the characters of the book I know it’s a 5 star, this was that book. I loved the Egyptian setting and the Metropolitan Museum setting. Now I want to go to Egypt and The Met, The Met is only an hour and half away from me so I will probably go there first…

The characters in this book were great, I loved Annie and Charlotte's friendship and I loved hearing about Charlotte's backstory. I found myself wanting to continue reading this book and I think it will stick with me for a while. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a historical fiction book with dual timelines and a mystery involving stolen Egyptian artifacts.

5 stars!

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Spoiler alert: I am a huge fan of Fiona Davis. I am proud to say that I have devoured every one of her books. She did not let me down with The Stolen Queen. The novel has dual timelines - Egypt 1936 and NYC 1978. Both were strong, with well-developed characters weaved in. If you enjoy a bit of history, a good taste of Egypt, cleverly constructed plotlines, and affable protagonists, this fabulous novel is for you.

A definite must-read for historical fiction lovers. Super well researched. The timelines were a bit difficult to follow, but, overall, I loved this one!

I
This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025 and it’s lived up to what I’d hoped.

From the very start I was drawn in and engrossed in every aspect of this story. The two timelines, one set around the Met museum in 1978 and the other in Egypt in 1936 and 1978 were both so interesting and compelling. The characters had very interesting stories and with some dramatic moments I couldn’t stop reading. This was such a good story and one that my historical fiction loving friends are going to want to pick up asap!

Rating: 4.5/5⭐️
Pub day: January 7, 2025

Big thanks to Dutton for sending me a digital arc!

*I spent a ridiculous amount of time googling information from this story, so many amazing things like how modernized the Egyptians were, even to the point of women having many of the same rights as men.
Learning that the Nile flooded every year in the spring and that flooding left silt that allowed for crops to grown as well as cleaned the water was so interesting. Of course, now a dam keeps that from happening and the benefits of the flooding have been forgotten.

I would give this 3.5 stars, rounded up. This book is classic Fiona Davis: dual timelines, with the story coming together at the end. We meet Charlotte Cross, who is an anthropology student who gets to go along on a dig to Egypt in 1935. She suffers an unspeakable personal tragedy which also involves some missing artifacts.
In 1978, we meet Annie, a young woman who works for someone who is planning a gala at the Met, where Charlotte now works. Charlotte becomes obsessed in proving that a particular woman from ancient Egypt was much more important than she was believed to be. Eventually, Charlotte returns to Egypt to prove this, find some missing jewels that were connected to her husband who she believed to be dead, and to find her daughter. Annie manages to invite herself along.
This was all right--definitely not my favorite Fiona Davis novel. For example, I much preferred The Spectacular. I am not sure if the formula that the author is using is getting to me or doesn't fit here, or whether the Egypt angle isn't grabbing me. The characterization was good, which is a strong point here.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group, Dutton for providing me with a copy of this ARC in return for my honest opinions.

Fiona Davis is one of my favorites, and her books never disappoint. This title takes us to New York's famed Metropolitan Museum and to archaeological digs in Egypt. Charlotte Cross's story is told from the time she was interning on a dig and found the tomb of the lost queen of Egypt to the "present day" of the late 1970s. I enjoyed those time jumps in addition to the unique setting of the 1970s. As Charlotte faces a reckoning with her past and Annie tries to forge a successful future, this story offers a look at what happens behind the scenes in a museum and the important history and knowledge we can gain from protecting culture and history.

Solid historical fiction author, who again, never disappoints.

One amazing book this author I just love her because how she writes books and how she ties everything together.It's so great. I like how she goes back-and-forth in time.And every chapter is developing through these different characters. You meet charlotte at the met when they're getting ready for the big T.UT. Expedition was coming from egypt for egyptian part of the museum. A n n e run into her as well. They start talking. The reason they met was some kind of Necklace from egypt in the old days from queen who was buried in A T o n p. She was becoming assistant to a famous designer for the met gallant. She suggested this because it would go really well with the theme they were planning. C h a r l o t t c recognize it right away and it brought back memories of her time in egypt nineteen thirty seven. She was there a young college girl wanting to know more about the Egypt. AN. In the T O NB.. She fell in love A man named Henry.. He had a very bad task about him and she did not realize this. He had a partner who was just as bad. They were stealing stuff and making money on the black market. They had to leave quickly from egypt because of A necklace. They had a shipwreck and everybody thought died but she survived and came back to new york. She is working at the museum. With the egypt parliament. She meets this young girl named Annie. Nineteen seventy eight. And i've started working with the famous designer who's planning the met galley. And I thought this necklace would be really good with the thing.They were doing with ballet. They were planning The met galley ball. It's a big deal in new york. This is when the book turns into a mystery love story. Anna was taking care of her mother and working in restaurants and cleaning the upstairs town offs for a woman so they could have reducet RE NT.. The statue of I They queen from egypt's past which got S Tl ON from. The net when they had the ball. This led to crazy adventures in the book and also they wanted to know who had this necklace. They went off to Egypt to find the answers.And this will be a really good ending the book.You'll love it

Fiona Davis tackles another Manhattan institution with a behind the scenes look at the. metropolitan museum of art. Antiquities expert Charlotte Cross and young Annie Jenkins cross paths at the intersection of the 1978 MET Gala and the opening of the King Tut exhibition. Together they must manage an international art heist while dealing with the ghosts of the past and make peace with those in their lives. Engaging, tense, and exciting this is another wonderful story that pulls back the curtain of a NYC landmark.

This book started a bit slow for me but I enjoyed it once I got into the story. It had very interesting facts about some history I didn’t know too much about. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for my opinion.

If you are a fan of Fiona Davis, this book does not disappoint. Her latest book takes place in both Egypt and New York City. The story is split between the 1930s and 1978. As always, Fiona Davis brings light to New York City settings that you think you know, but she goes in depth and brings forward hidden places in these settings. Charlotte Cross is a student on an archaeology dig in Egypt in 1936. She returns to NY after a series of unfortunate events and in 1978, she is working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Also in New York in 1978 is eighteen year old Annie Jenkins. On one of the lowest days of her life, Annie ends up with a job working for Diana Vreeland who is organizing the annual Met Gala. Charlotte and Annie's paths cross at the Met and they work together to find a stolen piece of art that has both of them traveling to Egypt and back again to New York. Along with this mystery is the mystery of what happened to Charlotte back in the 1930s.

The time period is essential to this story since much of this storyline would be impossible in a world with instant communication and social media. The story moves very quickly towards the end and everything is tied up with a bow, but enjoy the ride along the way. Any scene with Diana Vreeland is a treasure. I wouldn't mind a follow up book focusing on Annie as her story left me wanting more.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance ecopy. My opinion is my own.

Unlike the other books I've read by Fiona Davis, this one isn't fully set in New York City- and it's really interesting to see what the author does with a new setting! This has a tense, sweeping arc that I was engrossed by, and characters that are absolutely fascinating, with deeply hidden secrets and family issues that add to a story that already has a great plot and well developed atmosphere. This may be Fiona Davis's best yet.

Egypt. The Met. The 1930’s and 1970’s. Intricate characters. Fiona writes in such a way that I’m instantly drawn in and don’t want to put the book down. My heartstrings, how she plays at them so delicately. This is a beautifully written adventure. The details, divine. The complex relationships, believable. Everything flows, you don’t even know how you just read 50 pages so quickly. Painstaking and action packed. Another triumph. Bravo & thank you!!

The Metropolitan Musuem of Art is the NYC landmark at the focus of this dual timeline novel from Fiona Davis.

The story is part history, part mystery, part art heist thriller with some archeological information.

We are introduced to Charlotte, a curator of Egyptian Art at the Met. Charlotte meets Annie, an assistant to the editor of Vogue who is working on the Met Gala.

During the gala, an Egyptian artifact is stolen and the story the shifts Charlotte and Annie to Egypt where they search for information about the artifact and eventually find clues to part of Charlotte's past.

This is a must read!

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Fiona Davis, and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I LOVED this!! This was my first read by Fiona Davis and will certainly not be my last. I love any historical fiction that is women-centered, and I felt that The Stolen Queen was extremely unique. Part historical fiction and part mystery, Davis's writing kept me engaged the entire time reading. Eyptian history and art is not my primary interest, so I did not know much going into this read; I found that I ended the book with a good amount of knowledge about both subjects! I appreciated Davis's author's note at the end that clarified Hathorkare was based on an actual Eyptian ruler with a very similar story and how she clarified other changes in the novel that were also based on real people/events/things. I liked reading Charlotte's chapters the most over Annie's, as I felt she had an extremely compelling story. The structure helped to tell the story well with some flashbacks throughout to tell what tragedy happened to her. I thought the mystery definitely drove the story and kept a great pace throughout. There were a couple of twists and big reveals that I honestly did not predict! I was thrilled that Davis kept me on my toes and didn't go the easier (and more obvious route, in my opinion) with the reveal of certain characters. The Stolen Queen was an extremely entertaining read that gave a bit to ponder on and learn about, which made it a success for me.

Fiona Davis is a must read author for historical fiction lovers. This book beautifully combines art, fashion and history. Read it if you like dual timelines, Metropolitan Museum history and ancient Egypt.

Thank you NetGalley for my early e-arc of this book.

To say that this book did not disappoint would be an understatement. After reading Davis' The Magnolia Palace published in 2022 (but it feels like yesterday!) I was excited to get my hands on an early copy of her latest novel, The Stolen Queen.

It's female lead character driven, involves archeology (something I've always been fascinated by) and features a dual timeline and an heist at the Met during the 'party of the year'. What's not to love!

Fiona is one of the best. She always takes us to a place in NYC and gives us some kind of big story around it. This time she takes us to The Met, where an antique has been stolen. The question then comes up, how did that work get to the met? The work had been thought to be lost at sea. The book is set in 2 time periods and is excellently executed.