In this fantastic dual timeline story of two courageous women, during a time that it is very difficult to be so, take control of their own destiny. A budding woman archeologist in the 1920's finds her passion as she tries to discover the noble and lost female pharaoh, Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut reigned for 21 years during the mid 1400's BCE.

The novel has history, adventure and grit as both women forge their own unique paths during times when they are supposed to stay quiet.

I have read other books by Marie Benedict and was really excited to read her latest, Daughter of Egypt. This book is historical fiction based on Lady Evelyn Beauchamp. In November 1922, she, her father, and the archaeologist Howard Carter were the first people in modern times to enter the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The other storyline of Hatshepsut the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II, who was the sixth pharaoh of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty. She ruled for 21 years, longer than any other woman. As I really didn't know anything about this topic I found the book to be an interesting read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

Daughter of Egypt is everything I’ve come to expect from Marie Benedict — richly researched, vividly atmospheric, and alive with the voice of a woman whose story deserves to be heard. In this case, Benedict turns her gaze toward ancient history, bringing to life Cleopatra not as a myth or caricature, but as a brilliant, complex leader navigating power, survival, and legacy.

The novel is both intimate and sweeping. I loved how Benedict captured the contradictions of Cleopatra’s world: the opulence of the Egyptian court, the volatile pull of Rome, and the delicate balance of politics and personal ambition. Cleopatra emerges as more than just a figure of legend; she is fiercely intelligent, strategic, and vulnerable, reminding readers of the humanity behind the icon.

Benedict’s writing is elegant yet compulsively readable. She threads historical detail into the story without slowing its momentum, making the book both immersive and accessible. The result is a captivating portrait that feels fresh, engaging, and thought-provoking.

For fans of historical fiction that highlights powerful women in history — from queens to unsung heroines — Daughter of Egypt is a must-read.

just finished this book it was quite similiar to another i read about egypt.. i enjoyed the back in forth from the 1920's back to the 1400's i wish that it had been longer as there is more to the story.. i always enjoy reading marie benedict , her work is awesome, but this book left me wanting more

This was most intriguing with its information about an Egyptian pharaoh of whom I had no previous knowledge about. It was fast paced in places but it also crept by in others. The ending was one that wrapped everything up without being too unreasonable. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Benedict shines a spotlight on an extraordinary woman of history with vivid detail and passion. This novel is both immersive and empowering.

Daughter of Egypt had an intriguing premise and strong historical detail, but the pacing dragged and the dual timelines felt uneven. Hatshepsut’s chapters were vivid, while Evelyn’s often lacked tension. Interesting, but I wanted more depth and momentum.

While I appreciate Benedict researching Egyptian history, especially involving women and their place in the world, Daughter of Egypt was lacking structure. It ended up becoming slightly cheesy by the end.

Marie Benedict is a beautiful historical fiction writer. This story was compelling, plausible, interesting and captivating. I looked up everything that was going on for picture reference. Outstanding!!!!!

A new Marie Benedict novel is not something I can pass on. Daughter of Egypt is a dual timeline, dual female story. Benedict weaves together the story of Hatshepsut in 1480 BCE Egypt with the story of amateur archeologist Evelyn Herbert in 1920s England. Both of these women are real historical characters, who worked to create a new role for women in Egypt. Benedict brings both women to life, using their historical record to create a compelling novel of historical fiction.

In one timeline, Daughter of Egypt focuses on Hatshepsut, a female Pharaoh, whose life was erased from the historical record. Benedict provides a possible reason for the effort to wipe clean this female Pharaoh's history. In the more recent timeline of a hundred years ago, Evelyn Herbert was a real person, who grew up in Highclere Castle, largely familiar to audiences as the film location for Downton Abbey. However the Herbert family was just as interesting as their home. Evelyn's father was an Egyptologist, as was his daughter. The castle contains many Egyptian artifacts, which inspire Evelyn to go to Egypt in search of new tombs, especially a woman Pharaoh's tomb. Her search for the tomb of Hatshepsut is the story that Benedict brings to life in Daughter of Egypt. The research and history that are included in the novel will keep readers unable to put down the novel. Daughter of Egypt is a novel that is astonishing in its depth and breadth. I was immediately struck by the level of research and knowledge about both women.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC of Daughter of Egypt. This review can only tell the briefest story of these two women, but I think Benedict's fans for find these women compelling real life characters.

5 stars

I love Marie Benedict books as well as Egyptian archaeology. You can imagine my glee when I heard about this book....I loved it and the inspiration it inspires. A intertwining story of Lady Eve and Hatshepsut, such a lovely book of history and fiction. I was particularly impressed with Ms Benedict's research and her own personal interest in Egypt. I was so sad to finish the book, I just wanted it to go on longer...

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

The novel brings to light two extraordinary women: Evelyn Herbert who helped uncover Tutankhamun’s tomb, and Hatshepsut with her mysterious reign as the first woman Pharaoh of Egypt.

1919, England. The novel begins with the backstory of Evelyn Herbert who comes from privileged family. Her father, Lord Carnarvon, employed Howard Carter to lead excavations in Egypt. Howard Carter has been tutoring Eve in history and archeology of ancient Egypt every summer since her childhood. And that’s when her fascination with Hatshepsut began – why her successors tried to erase her from history. That’s the puzzle she’s been determined to solve.

The story portrays well the spirit of Eve and her fascination with Hatshepsut. While traveling to Egypt with her parents, she witnesses the excavations of the final layer at the site possibly tied to Tutankhamun and Hatshepsut. Her anticipation is contagious. She also experiences what she only heard of and never imagined that could happen to her until it did – collapsed tunnels and tombs, and archeologists and others not making it out alive. She stumbles upon other challenges that make her question others’ motives when she learns of Howard Carter procuring some artifacts for himself and not his patron. Thus, exposing her smarts, sophistication, and determination.

The story weaves in another timeline beginning in 1486 BC, Thebes, when Hatshepsut is a priestess. Her father Pharaoh Thutmose teaches her how to command and make decisions. After the death of her two brothers, she remains the sole highest-born royal child in the land, but no woman has ever ruled Egypt. Who succeeds and what happens next reveals the puzzle Eve has been searching for. Hatshepsut’s character reveals a strong woman who is highly-intelligent and creative in navigating the world she lives in.

The story has a rich historical background and weaves in Hatshepsut’s story interestingly – and the answer Eve is searching for. The narrative has a feel of telling rather than showing.

Eve’s voice has that distinct aristocratic tone. On the other hand, Hatshepsut’s voice lacks the authoritative tone and is missing the tension between her and her subordinates.

The novel brings to light two women who have not received enough credit for creating history as they lived in a male dominated world. Both are such fascinating characters that I wish there was even more to their character-development.

I love most books about ancient Egypt and when I see new ones, I will always pick them up. Daughter of Egypt is no exception. This is a story of two women, one being Hatsheput, a little-known female ruler of Egypt who many have tried to wipe from history. The other woman being Lady Eve Carnarvon who has a big interest in Hatsheput. This book is about Eve's travels to Egypt and her search for the Queen. I absolutely loved this book and the story of two strong females finding their way in times that were male dominated. The writing flowed so smoothly, and I had finished this in a blink of an eye, and it left me wanting to travel to Egypt even more. Thank you Netgalley.

I read and enjoyed Marie Benedict's book The Personal Librarian last year, so I was excited about the opportunity to read her newest historical fiction novel Daughter of Egypt. I love all things Egypt, enjoyed the Tut exhibition when it came to Chicago and visited it in Egypt as well.

This book follows that dual timeline scenario that seems so popular right now. Lady Evelyn is consumed by Egypt due to her father, Lord Carnarvon, who funded digs in Egypt and had a close relationship with Howard Carter. She becomes obsessed with Pharaoh Hatshepsut (not sure if this part is fact or fiction) and convinces Carter to help her search for her tomb. In the process, Egypt begins seeking independence and of course, they find Tut's intact tomb.

The second story is that of Hatshepsut herself. We follow her as she rises in power and Benedict offers some possible conjectures for her demise. Benedict does a good job in creating a plausible storyline for Hatshepsut's life.

My biggest complaint, is the ending of the book felt very rushed. After this elaborate story, everything just comes to a crashing end. I also wish there was more explanation separating the fact from the fiction. It did cause me to do some research on both Hatshepsut as well as Lady Evelyn.

Overall, it is a fun read that I would recommend. Thanks to St Martin Press and NetGalley for an ARC for my unbiased opinion.

"Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict has all of the aspects of a historical fiction book that I adore. There are two timelines, strong female lead characters, based on actual people and events in history and has a hint of romance. As mentioned in the title, this is the tale of two women, one a pharaoh and one who is digging for pharaohs. Both women have strong beliefs and ambitions that challenge the 'acceptable' actions of women in their time.
For me, a good book makes me stop and go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole trying to learn all I can about the people and events that the book is discussing. I did this so many times with this book! Now I want to read all the historical fiction about Egypt (and go back and read everything Marie Benedict has written)."

I am grateful for the chance to read this book. I love reading about Egypt but it’s usually about Cleopatra. To read about Hatshepsut was fascinating. The story is about Eve who is working with her father and his friend as they are actually looking for Tutankhamun’a tomb. Eve is desperately looking for Hatshepsut with her father’s friends help. The story goes between Eve and Hapshetsut, following her rise to Pharoah. My only disappointment is the ending, which I won’t go into because it’s a spoiler. But that is history, the actual story no matter how we wanted it to end. Loved this book!

In Marie Benedict’s latest DAUGHTER OF EGYPT, readers are transported back in time to Ancient Egypt but also to England and told the story of how in the 1920s Evelyn Herbert was part of the excavation of finding King Tut’s tomb, but not only this but there’s also another story that the author seamlessly uses to tell the story of a little known ruler. Marie Benedict uses these two stories to draw parallels to how women are often overlooked and not appreciated.

Thank you to Marie Benedict for penning another fantastic story, publisher St Martin’s Press for the advanced eARC via NetGalley.

** All opinions are my own **

Marie Benedict has once again proven why she is one of the most important voices in historical fiction today. She has an extraordinary ability to shine a light on women who shaped history but were hidden in the shadows, and Daughter of Egypt may be her most daring excavation yet. This book is not only about tombs and treasures—it’s about silenced voices clawing their way back into the narrative. It’s about courage, defiance, and the cost of being a woman who refuses to accept the role history has written for her.

The novel unfolds across two breathtaking timelines. In the 1920s, we meet Lady Evelyn Herbert, the daughter of Lord Carnarvon, living in the very world of privilege and limitation that defined her era. While society expected her to play the dutiful daughter, marry well, and keep to the drawing rooms, Evelyn’s heart is in the sands of Egypt. Her obsession with discovery—particularly the story of Hatshepsut—pulls her into a dangerous world where politics, greed, and nationalism collide. She isn’t just searching for a tomb; she’s searching for her own identity, her own legacy, in a time when women were rarely allowed either.

And then there is Hatshepsut, the lost Pharaoh. Benedict brings her to life with a vivid, almost aching power—her intelligence, her ambition, and her willingness to seize authority in a world that tried to erase every trace of her existence. Reading about her reign felt like standing inside a temple, torchlight flickering against stone walls, hearing her voice echo back through the centuries. She wasn’t just ruling Egypt; she was daring to imagine a different future. And for that, her enemies ensured her name was struck from the monuments she built.

What makes this book feel so alive is how these two women’s stories mirror one another. Both Evelyn and Hatshepsut fight to carve space for themselves in male-dominated worlds, and both pay the price for their audacity. Their struggles, though separated by millennia, resonate deeply with today’s readers: the erasure of women’s achievements, the battles for autonomy, the fight to be remembered.

Benedict also doesn’t shy away from the larger questions. Who owns history? Who has the right to decide where artifacts belong—the colonizers who plundered them, or the people whose ancestors built them? These questions haunt Evelyn’s chapters, set during a time of Egyptian independence and unrest, and they still feel urgent today.

But for all its political and historical weight, this is also a deeply emotional novel. I found myself moved not just by the grandeur of ancient temples or the thrill of discovery, but by the very human pulse of the story: Evelyn’s determination to step beyond her father’s shadow, Hatshepsut’s fight to lead with strength and vision, and the universal desire to leave behind a legacy that cannot be erased.

Reading Daughter of Egypt felt like peeling back layers of sand, brushing away dust, and uncovering something luminous that had been there all along. Benedict doesn’t just give us history—she gives us connection, empathy, and fire.

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this empowering, feminist-vibed, and inspirational historical fiction ARC with me in exchange for my honest thoughts. I’m so grateful to have experienced this story, and I’ll be thinking about Evelyn and Hatshepsut long after I’ve turned the final page.

Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict 4
This is the story of a family trying to find artifacts and such of Pharaohs and Queens of Egypt. Very interesting in how they dig and what they find in the tombs of the desert in Egypt. This story is about trying to locate the tomb of a woman Pharaoh Hatshepsut whom I never heard of, but she did become the first woman Pharaoh. Her story is very interesting. I have read many of Ms Benedict’s books and each one is just as interesting as the others. I am sure you will enjoy reading about Egypt and artifacts they find.