Lifelines: Cleopatra: Cleopatra

by Adèle Geras

This innovative, fully illustrated, and factually accurate novel tells the story of the legendary Egyptian queen. At ten years old, a young girl named Nefret becomes a handmaid to Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. It is through her eyes, as a servant in Cleopatra's court, that the history of this powerful ruler unfolds. In Nefret's diary, readers will observe Cleopatra's struggle to become a pharaoh and her relentless determination to rule Egypt well. A reference chapter provides accurate historical and cultural context.

Genres: History, Egypt

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Adèle Geras FRSL (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.

Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.

Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.

Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.

Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[☆ emeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best books I read when I was lil

[Trix · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant story of one of the most famous queens of Egypt ever. With love and Adventure I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about Cleopatra

[Naomi Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, it was amazing! This book had humor, romance, and history altogether! It's a perfect recipe if you want a kid (Who hates reading history) to read something historical! Hey, I'm a 10 yr old kid and I thought history was really boring until I read this. I totally recommend this book! You will NOT regret buying it, I promise you! Usually, history books would be like: "Cleopatra was born in BLAH BLAH BLAH, and did you know that Cleopatra ruled when she was BLAH BLAH BLAH?" (I didn't tell you when she took the crown because duh, spoil alert) Anyway, this is a perfect book for children and adults! And I swear to God that your children will love it!

[Katka Olajcová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malé dievčatko Nefret si píše denník o tom, ako bola v službách kráľovnej Kleopatry. Jej mama jej porozpráva všetko, čo sa stalo, keď Kleopatra nastúpila na trón, ako sa dala dokopy s Júliom Caesarom a ako on zomrel. A v tomto období nastupuje Nefret do služieb kráľovnej. Tu som sa začala trochu obávať, pretože vieme, ako Kleopatra zomrela a vieme, že nezomrela sama, ale aj so svojimi služobnými a Nefret s stala jej obľúbenkyňou... Našťastie pri smutnom konci Nefret nebola, dožila sa 13. rokov a vydala sa za svojho kamoša Ramiho (aké to šťastie).
Udalosti okolo Kleopatry sú zjednodušené, ale celkom dobre vysvetlené. Na konci je aj taký "historický glosár", ktorý vysvetľuje rôzne egyptské záležitosti - bohov, písmo, dejiny... Čo je len bonus.
Čo ma ale nasralo do vývrtky, je prekladateľský kiks. Nefret má mačku, Lotosový kvet. Celý čas sa tvárime, že je to kocúr, dokonca aj po tom, ako tá mačka porodí mačiatka! Stále sa oslovuje v mužskom rode. Prečo????????????????????

[Lavinia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative, colourfully illustrated fiction book about the Egyptian queen Cleopatra told through the eyes of her handmaiden Nefret. It was reasonably well-written and had all the main facts you might want to know.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aimed at younger readers this book explores Cleopatra's life through the eyes of her servant. It's beautifully illustrated and covers all the main points. Worth picking up if you want to educate that young history nerd in your life.

[readsandteas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when i was a kid! I am really looking forward to reading this beautiful story again soon! ♥️

[Aysha Imran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ,simple introduction of Cleopatra for the history buffs.

[Aishwarya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so amazing. The illustrations fill each and every page and awesome. It contains lots of history and timelines in the point of view by the Nerfet the Cleopatra's Hand maiden.

[Ramona Dărădan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinanta , am citit-o in doar doua zile , recomand

[Kristi Clemow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book - great illustrations - especially the funny bits with the rats and guards, etc. A lot of detail about Cleopatra that I did not know - told in an interesting way for kids

[Diane V-R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and packed with info for younger readers.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This oversized book was a study of Egyptian life in the first century B.C., a biography of Cleopatra, and a story about a young handmaiden, Nefret. The details of life then were fascinating. I must admit, I was surprised to see how graphic a few of the illustrations were; for example, the murdered Julius Caesar lies bloody while a senator knees nearby and throws up; a woman throws a slop jar that is clearly filled with pee and turds out of a window (did they really do that in Egypt??).
However, the illustrations were also filled with a touch of humor--I noticed that many of the guards and slaves had sappy, ugly, or dopey expressions on their faces. The big tough oversized bodyguard with the three little kittens crawling on him was particularly amusing. I enjoyed reading this book and would like to read more along this line. Recommended!

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book was NOT quite appropriate for my son who picked it out but he’s tended to gravitate to the 900’s in our new library.  Even though it wasn’t quite appropriate, he was captured by this girl’s diary, learning about Caesar getting murdered, Cleopatra’s brother-husbands dying questionable deaths, love affairs and babies, and many more interesting topics that seemed to lead us to many discussions. He was heartbroken at the end of the book. Here’s hoping he doesn’t pick out Romeo and Juliet next!

[Ian]

egyptian stufff