History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

  Cleopatra’s Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen Author: Jane Draycott Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Liveright Release Date: 2023 Pages: 336 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The first modern biography of one of the most influential yet long-neglected rulers of the ancient world: Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra.      As the only daughter of Roman Triumvir Marc Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII, Cleopatra Selene was expected to uphold traditional feminine virtues; to marry well and bear sons; and to legitimize and strengthen her parents’ rule. Yet with their parents’ deaths by suicide, the princess and her brothers found themselves the inheritors of Egypt, a claim that placed them squarely in the warpath of the Roman emperor.      “Supported by a feast of visual and literary references” (Caroline Lawrence), Cleopatra’s Daughter reimagines t...

The Daughters of Palatine Hill Author: Phyllis T. Smith Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Release Date: February 16, 2016 Pages: 412 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Two years after Emperor Augustus’s bloody defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, he triumphantly returns to Rome. To his only child, Julia, he brings an unlikely companion—Selene, the daughter of the conquered Egyptian queen and her lover.      Under the watchful eye of Augustus’s wife, Livia, Selene struggles to accept her new home among her parents’ enemies. Bound together by kinship and spilled blood, these three women—Livia, Selene, and Julia—navigate the dangerous world of Rome’s ruling elite, their every move a political strategy, their most intimate decisions in the emperor’s hands.      Always suppressing their own desires for the good of Rome, each must fulfill her role. For astute Livia, this means unwavering fid...

Cleopatra's Moon Author: Vicky Alvear Shecter Genre: YA, Historical Fiction Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books Release Date: 2011 Pages: 368 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis:  Princess of Egypt      Cleopatra Selene is the only daughter of the brilliant Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and General Marcus Antonius of Rome. She's grown up with jewels on her arms, servants at her feet, and all the pleasures of a palace at her command, and she wants only to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a great and powerful queen.      Prisoner of Rome      Then the Roman ruler Octavianus, who has always wanted Egypt's wealth, launches a war that destroys all Selene has ever known. Taken to live in Octavianus's palace in Rome, she vows to defeat him and reclaim her kingdom at all costs. Yet even as she gathers support for her return, Selene finds herself torn between two young men and two different paths to power. Will love distract ...