Thanks to NetGalley Penguin Random House for the ARC. This book was a delight by the end. It took quite a while for me to get into the plot with the slow start. But once I got to the point where the plot started moving faster I was HOOKED. The history I learned was unmatched. I loved the imagery and the stories of sisterhood. I could feel like I was present with them. The stories of friendship that went deeper than surface level and the twists and turns really kept me on my edge. Overall highly recommend.

I had really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. The paceing was very slow, with almost nothing happening in the first 60 percent of the book. I also felt no connection to the characters and had a hard time caring what happened to them. I eventually gave up on this book because it wasn't holding my attention.

This cover is stunning! Read this if you adore anything to do with Egypt. I loved that this book was set during the Victorian era. This book made me catch Egyptomania like the characters in the book. It makes you want to board a Dahabiya and float down the nile and explore. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more work from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I've been fascinated by Egyptian history and mythology for as long as I can remember - THE HOUSE OF TWO SISTERS hits on both.

Clemmie, the story's protagonist believes that her family has been cursed due to the offenses of her father, an Egyptian antiquities collector. It's this belief that compels her to embark on an Egyptian expedition that she hopes will end the curse.

This book is beautifully written in the way that it evokes vivid imagery while simultaneously weaving a tale of intrigue and suspense. It is, however, a slow burn type of read, which utlizes a lot of flashbacks. That said, if you enjoy a bit of history, mythology, and suspense, you'd likely enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House
Publishing (Ballantine Books) for the advanced digital copy of this book, My reviews will be posted to my socials on June 2, 2025, (Fable and Goodreads).

Set against the shadowy grandeur of Victorian Egyptomania, "The House of Two Sisters" is a tightly woven historical novel that interrogates the boundaries between myth and memory, science and superstition, grief and guilt. Rachel Louise Driscoll's debut recreates the past and exposes its tensions, excavating personal and cultural reckonings from the sands of 1890s Egypt.

The novel follows Clementine "Clemmie" Attridge, a gifted hieroglyphist haunted by the legacy of her father's macabre fascination with ancient Egypt. In an era when mummy unwrapping parties passed as polite entertainment, Clemmie's father, a showman-scholar figure dubbed "Mummy Pettigrew," was part of a generation that treated the dead as curiosities. But Clemmie's journey into Egypt is not a voyage of spectacle. It is a quiet confrontation with her family's entanglements, a reckoning with stolen artifacts, and an attempt at restitution. However, whether she seeks forgiveness, redemption, or truth is left to the reader's interpretation.

Driscoll shuns melodrama in favor of psychological subtlety, allowing emotional truths to emerge through detail and silence as much as dialogue. Her portrayal of colonial Egypt is rich in specificity but unsparing in its depiction of the exploitation of land, culture, and bodies. The novel is not another adventure tale set in an exotic locale; it is a slow reveal of moral decay masked as scholarship.

The historical framework is anchored in real events and figures such as Amelia B. Edwards and the Egypt Exploration Fund. Driscoll's use of ancient Egyptian mythology, particularly the story of Nephthys, deepens the novel's exploration of sisterhood, concealment, and memory. The novel's heart lies in Clemmie's bond with her sister Rosetta—wounded, fractured, yet enduring. Their relationship is rendered with the kind of insight born of lived experience. Driscoll's close relationship with her sister informed this dynamic, lending it an authenticity that grounds even the novel's more symbolic gestures.

Although it explores the supernatural through Gothic tropes and ancient omens, "The House of Two Sisters" is ultimately a novel of human consequences. The so-called "curse" haunting the Attridge family is not some mystical force but the all-too-real specter of exploitation and betrayal—personal, familial, and imperial. Clemmie's mission resonates with contemporary urgency in an era still grappling with the legacies of colonial looting and museum ethics.

Driscoll's prose is assured, vivid without showiness, and attentive to the textures of place and body. She even reportedly wrote sections while wearing a corset to better inhabit her protagonist's physical world, an anecdote that, rather than serving as a gimmick, underscores her commitment to historical embodiment over historical embellishment.

Driscoll's debut succeeds because it refuses to treat colonial history as safely distant. "The House of Two Sisters" positions itself firmly within contemporary debates about museum ethics and cultural repatriation, yet it never sacrifices narrative momentum for moral instruction. Driscoll delivers thoughtful historical fiction and genuine adventure by using the intimate story of one family's reckoning to illuminate broader questions about what we owe the past and to whom. This debut offers both satisfaction and depth for readers seeking a novel that combines intellectual engagement with the pleasures of mystery, danger, and discovery.

Do you believe in curses? Might you be convinced of their reality if terrible things befell you and your family after an unheeded warning?

In Rachel Louise Driscoll’s elaborately woven debut, Clementine Attridge, daughter of an Egyptologist, was already inclined to accept the power of curses’ dark magic. Introverted yet strong-willed, Clemmie grew up immersed in myths, acting out scenarios about the sister-goddesses Isis and Nephthys during childhood playtime, and developed an expertise in hieroglyphs. At eighteen, she assists her father during his famous mummy-unwrapping parties: macabre entertainment for Victorian society gripped by all things Egyptian.

But after Clemmie translates the threatening inscription on an amulet found with an unusual mummified specimen, and her father disturbs the remains anyway, their lives are destroyed bit by bit. Five years later, she arrives in Cairo, desperate to hire a dahabeeyah – river barge – to carry her up the Nile and make amends before it’s too late.

The novel’s symbolism, drawing parallels between ancient deities and Clemmie’s family, is deep, rich, and extensive. It’s especially meaningful as it addresses Clemmie’s self-identification with the less-familiar sister: “For she is the Nephthys of her story, invisible and forgotten, and had she been a little more like Isis, then maybe her father would have listened to her.”

The storyline alternates between 1887 – the year of the “unwrapping” – and Clemmie’s journey in 1892, as she and a group of English visitors (whose company she reluctantly accepts) head upriver to Denderah. With the frequent circling back to five years ago and the time needed to establish context, the plot moves forward at a slowish pace, at least in the first half.

While the background detail will be catnip for Egyptology buffs (and cats are important characters!), the novel is as much an interior adventure as a voyage through the country and its storied culture. The characters, English and Egyptian, are a diverse sort, some more fully sketched than others. To allow for greater surprises, few specifics about the cast will be mentioned here, but the mythology provides hints.

For readers wanting to be transported into an earlier time, The House of Two Sisters places you amidst the Egyptomania craze of late 19th-century England and the exploitation of relics from the country’s past, both material and human. Moody and unsettling, this is a well-wrought Egyptian gothic with an echoing message about the ethics of people’s obsessions.

This fascinating novel tells the story of one brave woman's journey through Egypt to break a curse that was put onto her family. This novel is truly remarkable as it weaves such a remarkable trail of advancements in the nineteenth century. This book qill surely havw ypu begging for more.
Our main character Clemmie is an Egyptologist with her father. Although her fathers idea of making of name for themselves is unwrapping the mummies and taking the treasures. However one day he makes the mistake of unwrapping a mummy that has ominous hieroglyphics and after that several members of his family end up falling ill.
Clemmie takes this as a sign that the mummy was cursed. She then takes a journey back to Egypt to make things right and hopes that her family will make out all right. Along the way she meets some very interesting people.
Overall a very wonderful story.
I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

Sail down the Nile and untangle a curse in “The House of Two Sisters.” A blend of historical fiction comes together in a beautifully immersive story. Clemmie and her family unwrapped an Egyptian mystery one day and curses seem to follow them ever since. She decides to take a trip to Egypt with a mission to break the curse. I enjoyed the cast of characters and the twists in the plot. I truly felt like I was traveling with the group on the dahabeeyah and I learned so much about ancient Egypt along the way.
I didn’t always agree with Clemmie’s allusive behavior but I understood her motivations and why she was not very trusting.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

“The House of Two Sisters” is by Rachel Driscoll. I am a sucker for nearly any book about Egypt - especially when it focuses on the myths and/or archeology. This book focuses on the story of Isis and Nephtysis (Egyptian g-ds - sisters/sisters-in-law). This book also focuses on grave robbery, plundering of tombs/stolen goods, and basic uncaring about the dead and their belongings. This book also touches on the “British Invasion” and Imperialism. Those, I think, were the best parts of this book. Where the book fell flat for me was first in the pacing - it starts out slowly and doesn’t really pick up speed for a very long time. The second place it felt flat was regarding the characters - they’re one-dimensional and a bit flat. I think this book would be enjoyable for those who like historical fiction, Egyptian mythology (and some magic), and dual timelines.

In The House of Two Sisters we follow Clementine as she makes her way through Egypt to break the curse on her family. Clemmie and her father Clement made a name for themselves unwrapping mummies for treasures. Despite her protests, Clement unwraps a unique mummy with ominous hieroglyphs and a beautiful amulet. When her family falls ill, Clemmie can’t help to think there was a curse protecting the unearthed mummy. Clementine sets off by herself to right their wrongs, before time runs out.

I really liked the atmosphere and setting of this book. The author did a great job taking you back to Egypt in the 1800s, you can almost feel the heat and sand on your face. The history and myths of the sister gods were interesting. I liked the symmetry between the sisters in both stories throughout.

The book has a great opening hook and mystery to draw in the reader. While the pacing faltered in the first half, once the antagonist is introduced after the halfway mark, we finally have more tension to propel the story forward. I felt for Clemmie and her journey to help her sister, however, the characters overall didn’t stand out to me as I had hoped, they seemed very generic and underdeveloped.

Picking up the pace towards the end, some of the story puzzles fall into place. Clemmie’s struggle to get the amulet back to its rightful place and her change of mind regarding Egyptomania become the main story. I recommend this book to fans of historical fiction with slight magical elements, and a tiny hint of romance, the writing and research were enjoyable.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the free review copy.

"A young Victorian Egyptologist traverses the Nile River on a mission to undo a curse that may have befallen her family in this spellbinding novel.

Essex, 1887. Clementine's ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at her father's Egyptian relic parties, which have become the talk of the town. But at one such party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. As her childhood games about Isis and Nephthys - sister goddesses who protect the dead - take on a devastating resonance in her life, and tragedy slowly consumes her loved ones, she wonders what she and her father may have unleashed.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Cairo desperate to save what remains of her family back home. There, she meets a motley crew of unwitting English travelers about to set sail down the Nile - including an adventurer with secrets of his own - and joins them on a mission to reach Denderah, a revered religious site, where she hopes to return the amulet and atone for her sins.

With each passing day, she is further engulfed in a life she's yearned for all along. But as long-buried secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, Clemmie must reconcile the impossibility of living in the light while her past keeps her anchored to the darkness."

I mean, obviously I'm over the moon, because Egypt! But also, I'm oddly drawn by the Essex of it all.

I love anything Egyptian and this novel is such a wonderfully written adventurous story that you will feel like you are transported into the late 1800's along with the characters. Highly recommend and cannot wait to read more by this author!

very fun book which has its weakest point being the characters themselves, which were rather mediocre, although just about everything else was excellent. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

The House of Two Sisters is a haunting and atmospheric novel that had me hooked from the first page. Rachel Louise Driscoll masterfully weaves together past and present as two sisters uncover the dark secrets hidden within their family’s old, crumbling house. The story is layered with tension, and the way the sisters’ relationship is tested as they dig deeper into the house’s history adds an emotional depth that really drew me in. The writing is rich and evocative, perfectly capturing the eerie, almost gothic atmosphere of the place.

What I really loved is how the mystery unfolds gradually, with each clue adding to the unsettling feeling that something isn’t quite right. Driscoll does a great job of balancing suspense with character development, making the sisters feel relatable even as their world becomes more unsettling. It’s one of those books that keeps you guessing right up to the end, and I couldn’t put it down until I knew the truth. If you’re into stories that blend family drama with a touch of the supernatural, The House of Two Sisters is definitely worth a read.

Thank you very much to the publishers for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for a review!

The House of Two Sisters follows Clemmie, a 23-year-old Englishwoman in Egypt looking to right a wrong committed by her family years ago, for which they are still feeling the effects. Sharing a passion for Egyptology with her father, Clemmie often helped decipher hieroglyphs and assisting in mummy unwrapping events for wealthy patrons. However, five years ago, she and her father unwrapped the body of conjoined twin sisters, whose amulet bestowed a curse upon whomsoever disturbed them in the afterlife. When the health of her entire family deteriorates, Clemmie decides that she needs to fix her family's mistakes by returning the amulet to its rightful place in Egypt.

Driscoll creates a lush atmosphere of the bustling streets of Egypt, the dusty tombs, and the passenger boats (dahabeeyahs) that our characters use to traverse the Nile. In her author's note, she takes special care to point out how historically accurate she made the setting, including using antiquated names of the Egyptian gods. Clearly, she did her research!

The retelling of the myths is another high point. Driscoll takes care to highlight the role of Nephthys in Egyptian myth, as she is a traditionally overlooked figure when compared to her siblings, Set, Osiris, and Isis.

What didn't work for me was the pacing. Very little happens in the first 50% of the book, just sailing the Nile and trying to decide how to return the amulet. After the 50% mark we get a little more interesting, as the full effects of the sisters' curse is shown on the family and we get an antagonist introduced. But again, the ending is anticlimactic, leaving very little of the book compelling.

While I was disappointed with the pace of the adventure, I look forward to more of Driscoll's novels, especially if they come with a little more action!

Although it’s 1887—a time when young British women of the middle and upper classes were not expected to acquire an education, never mind specialized skills—eighteen-year-old Clementine (Clemmie) Attridge works with her Egyptologist father as a hieroglyphist. Clemmie has studied the ancient Egyptian script for years, and when we meet her, she is rapidly deciphering inscriptions on a mummy that her father is bent on unwrapping for an audience of paying spectators.

As Clemmie translates, she realizes that the signs she’s reading are highly unusual. She calls out for her father to stop, but like many Victorian gentlemen, he’s unwilling to accept advice from his daughter, especially with the crowd calling for him to continue. The skeleton, when unwrapped, is even more startling than the inscriptions. But that merely makes matters worse. While Clemmie does her best to dissuade her father, he dissects the skeleton, again under pressure from the crowd.

Fast forward five years, and Clemmie is in Cairo, convinced that this long journey is her one opportunity to reverse the curse that has plagued her family, especially her sister, since that fateful night. The novel goes back and forth between the events of the intervening five years and Clemmie’s ever-more-complicated attempts to rectify a mistake that was never hers in the first place. The result is a thoroughly engrossing tale about the lasting bond between siblings, human and divine. What I particularly love about this book is the author’s ability to take the timeworn image of the mummy’s curse and peel it back, layer by layer, to reveal the true source of the supposed curse: human failings such as arrogance, insensivity, avarice, and more. In the process, she raises questions that still have present relevance—specifically the theft and destruction of other people’s heritages, especially but not exclusively for personal gain.

I hope to host the author on my blog (link below) in July 2025.

This novel caught my attention because of the Egyptian mythology element. I like the core of the story, which is the myth of Isis and Nephthys, the historical themes and the consequences. However, the character development and pacing weren´t it for me. The characters felt somewhat stereotypical: an intellectual yet socially detached heroine, a brooding soldier with a troubled past, a shallow socialite, and a ruthless British opportunist. Another challenge reading the book was the pacing. The story took a long time to build momentum, with the actual plot progression happening well past the halfway point. The frequent timeline shifts between the present and various moments from the past also made the reading experience feel disjointed at times. Despite these issues, the book had intriguing themes which at the end delivers a promising story, even if certain elements didn’t quite work for me.

Thank you so much for the arc.

I enjoyed the element of magical realism in this story, leaving me unsure of what was real and what wasn’t. Are curses genuine, or are we simply the product of our own choices and consequences?

The way the story ran parallel between and myths of Egyptian gods and goddesses was interesting, and offered an engaging way to learn more about those legends.

The sibling dynamic stood out as one of the strongest aspects, exploring the lengths we go to for the people we love. Additionally, the theme of discovering that friends and family aren’t always who we believe them to be added an emotional depth that resonated.

While the book prioritized plot over character development, I found myself wanting a deeper exploration of the characters. More interactions between the protagonist and her companions would have enriched the story, as these relationships felt somewhat underdeveloped.

Thank you NetGalley! 4.5⭐️ A marvelous, unique story centers around Clementine Attridge and her family’s love and study of Egyptology set in 1887. Her father, Clement, formerly a surgeon becomes an unwrapper of mummies. When Clemmie tries to warn her father during one of his spectacles, due to her knowledge of hieroglyphs, her warning goes unaswered. A curse?! Her father and mother succumb and now her beloved sister, Rosetta, appears to be suffering as well. Even Rosetta’s fiancé, Horatio, seems to be abandoning her. Clemmie is determined to put an end to the family curse and that starts in Egypt, where she becomes entangled with a group of English tourists. Traveling along the Nile to break the curse and save her sister Clemmie must decide who she can trust. Beautifully delivered story on the consequences of Egyptomania not only on the people but the land and antiquities themselves. Would highly recommend.

Rachel Louise Driscoll has crafted an amazing experience in book form. Clemmie is our MC. She is an amazing Egyptologist that can read hieroglyphics. But she has a secret she hasn’t shared with her travel-mates. I appreciated all the descriptive prose in this book. Driscoll’s words sent me on a journey down the Nile and taught me about ancient Egypt at the same time. Truly an amazing feat!

Thank you to Rachel Louise Driscoll, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC.