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A review by jlynnelseauthor
Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge
3.0
The language of this is so poetic. "The night folded around them with a sweetness and poignancy heightened by the new pale stars that prickled silver fire in the water of the lily ponds, by the scented winds, and by the nearness of each other." Wow! Lovely.
Gedge is vivid in her descriptions of the ancient land and the lifestyle. Her narrative is rich and beautiful. Conversely, this could also cause the story to drag a bit. And while some things are richly defined, other moments (like the raising of Hatshepsut's two oblieseks) were vague and hard to clearly see in your mind's eye. There was also no clear definition of time, place, or family written into the story. Time transitions were poor and a bit confusing.
The other thing the author does is shift the point of view quickly. At one moment you're seeing things in Hatshepsut's mind, but then it switches to her father's point of view without warning, and then it switches to his viser's, etc. It was hard to follow sometimes.
Overall, this story is based on the known history of the time. While now-a-days some of these thoughts are now known to be inaccurate, all historical novels are in danger of falling into this trap, so you cannot fault the book because of this. Its a good story of a strong woman who easily shows others what a real women is made of. She's smart, vibrant, and strong in body and spirit. Its a story with a strong female protagonist leading the journey. Its a good story which unfortunately got a little slow here and there. Nice story and well written but a little too much conversation.
Gedge is vivid in her descriptions of the ancient land and the lifestyle. Her narrative is rich and beautiful. Conversely, this could also cause the story to drag a bit. And while some things are richly defined, other moments (like the raising of Hatshepsut's two oblieseks) were vague and hard to clearly see in your mind's eye. There was also no clear definition of time, place, or family written into the story. Time transitions were poor and a bit confusing.
The other thing the author does is shift the point of view quickly. At one moment you're seeing things in Hatshepsut's mind, but then it switches to her father's point of view without warning, and then it switches to his viser's, etc. It was hard to follow sometimes.
Overall, this story is based on the known history of the time. While now-a-days some of these thoughts are now known to be inaccurate, all historical novels are in danger of falling into this trap, so you cannot fault the book because of this. Its a good story of a strong woman who easily shows others what a real women is made of. She's smart, vibrant, and strong in body and spirit. Its a story with a strong female protagonist leading the journey. Its a good story which unfortunately got a little slow here and there. Nice story and well written but a little too much conversation.