Friday, October 21, 2011

From the Desk of...

... author Stephanie Dray!



Who were Cleopatra’s Grandchildren?
by
Stephanie Dray

I’ve spent the past few years writing about Cleopatra’s daughter--a fascinating young woman that most people didn’t even know existed. Today I want to talk about the next generation, the children that the infamous Queen of the Nile may have bounced on her knee if she’d lived to a ripe old grandmotherly age.

As far as we know, Cleopatra Selene was the only survivor of the Ptolemaic dynasty. But she seems to have been determined not to be the last of her line.

Though Selene’s parents were two of the most famously fertile individuals in ancient history, it is only certain that Selene had one son. He was born to her late in life and may have hastened her death. The name she chose for him is both the single most telling detail about her life and the most mysterious. Breaking with ancient tradition, her son wasn’t named after her husband, King Juba II.

Instead, Selene’s son was named Ptolemy.

The importance of this cannot be overstated. It indicates that even after having been married to Selene and ruling his own country for at least a decade, Juba’s lineage was still considered to be inferior to hers. Perhaps it indicates that she was the true ruler of Mauretania. It also may have led some to question whether or not he was even the father of the boy.

In a time when it would have been considered their duty to produce children, perhaps Juba and Selene did not fancy sharing one another’s bed. On the other hand, child mortality rates were extremely high in the ancient world. There may well have been other children that we just don’t know about.

An inscription from ancient Athens indicated that Juba had a son and a daughter, who is unnamed. However, this daughter need not have been the child of Cleopatra Selene because King Juba actually had another wife, Princess Glaphyra of Cappadocia.
Now, historians have argued that as a Roman citizen, Juba was unlikely to have
 broken with Roman law and taken more than one wife at the same time. It must be pointed out, however, that like Juba, King Herod was also a Roman citizen and had more wives than he could keep track of. Juba’s father had kept many wives and it’s entirely possible that the young king may have done the same to earn the respect of his Berber peoples. It strikes me that admirers of King Juba II who insist that he couldn’t have taken a second wife because he wouldn’t have taken a second wife may be projecting onto him some virtues of modern morality. After all, even the most Roman of the Romans–Julius Caesar–is rumored to have tried to pass a law that would allow him to take more than one wife.

A more persuasive argument, to my mind, is that Archelaus the King of Cappadocia was unlikely to allow his daughter, Glaphyra, to play second-wife to Cleopatra’s daughter.
So, what of Juba’s daughter? His marriage to Glaphyra was extremely short and this daughter is never mentioned in conjunction with her, so the daughter was probably Cleopatra Selene’s child. (Professor Duane Roller has suggested that Juba may have reinstated the tradition of a harem, in which case this unnamed daughter may have belonged to a concubine. But if so, it seems less likely that she would be mentioned in an inscription.)

The most probable explanation is that the girl mentioned in the inscription is Selene’s daughter. If so, the girl was likely named in the tradition of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Another Cleopatra Something or Berenice or Arsinoe. (In my own forthcoming novel, Song of the Nile, she will be named Cleopatra Isidora.)

A third child is also hinted at. Some scholars have suggested that Selene may have had two sons, both named Ptolemy, one of whom died young. This would reconcile some confusion in the historical record about Ptolemy’s age, and might also explain why Selene would have tried for another child so late in life when it was so dangerous for her to do so. If true, it would mean that Ptolemy wasn’t the only son born to Juba and Selene, but the only surviving son.

He would go on to be the King of Mauretania and he is likely the father of the girl we now believe to be Cleopatra’s great-great-granddaughter, Drusilla of Mauretania!




Stephanie graduated from Smith, a small women’s college in Massachusetts where–to the consternation of her devoted professors–she was unable to master Latin. However, her focus on Middle Eastern Studies gave her a deeper understanding of the consequences of Egypt’s ancient clash with Rome, both in terms of the still-extant tensions between East and West as well as the worldwide decline of female-oriented religion.
Before she wrote novels, Stephanie was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the transformative power of magic realism to illuminate the stories of women in history and inspire the young women of today. She remains fascinated by all things Roman or Egyptian and has–to the consternation of her devoted husband–collected a house full of cats and ancient artifacts.



Purchase Info for Song of the Nile:
Amazon
B&N
IndieBound
Constellation Books
Powell's





 

**Be on the lookout for my upcoming review for Song of the Nile!!**

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Book Arrivals



For Review:

Won/Miscellaneous:


Friday, October 07, 2011

Friday Finds [60]



I usually add a lot of books on my TBR list throughout the week. This is just a small glimpse into the ones that were added on recently. Maybe you'll find something you like =)

Please let me know your thoughts on a book you've read from the list. Or tell me about a good book you've found this week.


My Finds This Week:

 Mercy (Mercy, #1) by Rebecca Lim
Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles, #1) by Kevin Hearne
Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley
Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter
My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie, #1) by Diana Rowland

Brooklyn Story by Suzanne
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1) by Michelle Hodkin
Wildefire (Wildfire, #1) by Karston Knight
  
Mystify (Mystyx, #2) by Artist Arthur
Hourglass (Hourglass, #1) by Myra McEntire
Watched by Sharde Richardson



Thursday, October 06, 2011

Review: Flesh and Bones

Flesh and Bones
Paul Levine

Series or Stand Alone: Jack Lassiter series, book seven

Release Date: January 1997 (hardcover)

Publisher: William Morrow & Company (hardcover)

Pages: 320 (hardcover)

Author Site: http://www.paul-levine.com/content/index.asp

My Rating: 3.5/5

Source: Received for review from author (e-book)

Synopsis:
[from goodreads.com]

“I was sitting at the end of the bar sipping single-malt Scotch when I spotted the tall blond woman with the large green eyes and the small gray gun.”

The next thing Jake Lassiter knows, the woman pumps three bullets into the man on the next barstool.

And Jake, the linebacker-turned-lawyer, has a new client.

She’s stunning model Chrissy Bernhardt, and the dead man is her wealthy father. The defense? Chrissy claims that she’s recently recovered repressed memories of having been sexually abused by her father. Jake wants to believe her but suspects that the memories were either implanted by a shady psychiatrist or fabricated by Chrissy herself. Complicating the situation, Jake falls for his client, clouding his judgment. Is she an anguished victim or a cold-blooded killer? And what about her brother, who stands to inherit a fortune if Chrissy goes to prison? Jake wades into a quagmire of dirty water deals, big money, and family corruption, all leading to an explosive finale.

Review:

I accepted this book as apart of a blog tour (that I failed miserably to meet) because the synopsis sounded pretty decent. I hadn't read any other book by Paul Levine and Flesh and Bones is the seventh book in a series. I'm not a huge crime/legal novel lover but I found Flesh and Bones to be very enjoyable! The beginning of the novel sets up the plot and goes through introductions which was a bit slow for my tastes. Jake is an ex-Miami Dolphin  football player who now spends his time defending the citizens of south Florida. He's sitting in a bar when a beautiful woman comes in, shoots her father, and then faints into Jake's arms. Sounds exciting but I wasn't as sucked in as I wanted to be...

Eventually I found myself immersed with the story as Jake's case goes to trial. I'm so glad I stuck with the story because I found I really liked Jake's character and I really liked the writing skill of the author. He had a very warm and caring personality that surprised me. I also loved the fact that Chrissy was obviously guilty for shooting her father and Jake had to find a way to keep her from a prison sentence. I admit I rolled my eyes when the two of them became romantically involved...but again Jake's character (and Chrissy's) surprised me and I quickly warmed up to the idea of them becoming an item. The court scenes were totally engrossing and I really appreciated all the twists in the plot. I had to keep guessing and I like that about a novel!

Flesh and Bones is number seven in the Jake Lassister series and although there were some references to some background information it can still be read as a comfortable stand alone novel. I'll be checking out the rest of the books in the series and I'm interested in reading Paul Levine's other books. I think a lot of legal thriller fans will like Flesh and Bones so I definitely recommend giving this one a go =)

 

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday [88] - Don't Expect Magic



from goodreads.com:

Delaney Collins doesn't believe in fairy tales. And why should she? Her mom is dead, her best friend is across the country, and she's stuck in California with "Dr. Hank," her famous life-coach father—a man she barely knows. Happily ever after? Yeah, right.

Then Dr. Hank tells her an outrageous secret: he's a fairy godmother—an f.g.—and he can prove it. And by the way? The f.g. gene is hereditary. Meaning there's a good chance that New Jersey tough girl Delaney is someone's fairy godmother.

But what happens when a fairy godmother needs a wish of her own?



Reason: I love the fact that the father is a fairy godmother!! The synopsis sounds fun and quirky and cute.

Cover Discussion: Love it! It sets up a fun tone for the book that definitely makes me want to open it up and get started.

Release DateNovember 8th


Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Teaser Tuesday [66] - Drink, Slay, Love



Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:




-Grab your current read
-Let the book fall open to a random page.
-Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
-You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.
-Please avoid spoilers!



"Well, this is all very nice, but I have to run. Go on, shoo. Go ... poop rainbows ... or whatever it is you do." She wiggled her fingers at him to wave good-bye, and then she turned her back on the unicorn and started to walk away. (9)



**Find out more about Teaser Tuesday at http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/. Join in the fun!**


 

Monday, October 03, 2011

Book Promo: The Goblin Wars Series


Hello all! I just wanted to spread the word about a little title called Tyger Tyger (Goblin Wars, #1) by Kersten Hamilton... which has recently been released in paperback!! I read and reviewed Tyger Tyger back in March through NetGalley and really enjoyed it. It's a really fun and unique story that has some awesome world-building going on. And it has goblins, really cool, well-written goblins... Check out my review for more of my thoughts =)


from goodreads.com:

Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures—goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty—are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.

Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

 

The second book, In the Forests of the Night, will be released
November 22nd!!!

Kersten also has a pretty sweet book trailer contest going on to raise money for libraries. Be sure to visit her website for more information on Kersten, her books, and the contest!





Blog Widget by LinkWithin