The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George - book review

The Memoirs of Cleopatra
By Margaret George

Rating 5/5

Genres : Historical fiction, ancient egypt, Cleopatra, Julius Ceasar,  Marc Antony, Octavianus Caesar

It is little secret that I am obsessed with famous personages from Egypt. Starting with the notorious Akhenaten, Nefertiti and to Cleopatra, I never tire of reading different versions of their histories by different interpreters. Like all historical fiction based on actual living person from the past, this book is part fiction and part factual. But on the whole, it is very engrossing and gripping.  I took much longer to finish this than other books but I was savoring every part of its sweetness and mystique of Egypt it contained.

Julius Ceasar and Marc Antony are two roman generals and leaders who fall completely and desperately in love with the mighty queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.  She was very young when her mother died and her father is not strong in character - being depicted as a dionysian with exuberant and unbridled passions - very much  like Marc Antony. Her childhood passed in constant fear of execution and betrayal by her elderly ptolemy sisters who siezed the throne left empty by her father. She ensnared and lured Julius Ceasar into a pact of retaining her the queen and saving Egypt from Roman invasion through her beguiling charm and fierce personality.  After his death, Antony makes an entry into her life and effectively puts his life,wishes and fate at her feet. She is the controller and the executor of what he would do and she desires to regain control over the world for her and Caesar's son - Caesarion. It is a known fact how the fight with Octavianus goes and that harbingers the end of Marc Antony and Cleopatra. She has lived a noble,proud and remarkable life and even in death must respected and prosperous.

Reading this work of fiction by Margaret George made me feel like I have read a comprehensive and holistic work of literature which gleamed many facts from multiple sources of history. I may not be reading this again - its a very long book but I will not be able to forget all key pieces of the story - so pronounced is the impact on the reader.