Book Review of
Daughter of Egypt

Author: Marie Benedict

Genre(s): World

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Book Summary:

In the 1920s, Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines by discovering the treasure filled tomb of Tutankhamun. Lady Evelyn Herbert, Lord Carnarvon’s daughter, played a big part.

3,000 years earlier, another woman, Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh, was a bold, visionary who is almost completely erased from history.

Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut’s secret tomb, and she will risk everything to uncover the truth and keep the Egyptian artifacts in their rightful home. But as political tensions rise, she must make a choice.

This is a story of two brave, ambitious women who lived during two very different times.

Lynn's Review

Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict is a historical fiction book published in 2025.

Daughter of Egypt is a dual-timeline book, set in 1480 B.C. and post-WWI. The post-WWI storyline alternates between England and Egypt. The 1480s B.C. timeline is set in ancient Egypt.

I have not read much or studied much about ancient Egypt. It hasn’t really been a time period that has interested me. However, I read The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis last year and really enjoyed it, so when I saw that Marie Benedict had a new historical fiction book about ancient Egypt, I decided to give it a try.

I love Marie Benedict’s writing. She makes you feel like you are in ancient Egypt. I learned so much about ancient Egypt, post-WW1 Egypt, and the upper class of England that funded archaeology digs in Egypt in the early 1900s.

The 1920s storyline features the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, their daughter and son, and Highclere Castle, the family and estate on which Downton Abbey is based.

They never traveled to Egypt in the show Downton Abbey, so the book is different, but it does give you a look into the history of the real family on which Downton Abbey was based. And the estate where it was filmed.

I really enjoyed the history of Ancient Egypt in Daughter of Egypt. Yes, there is a lot of Ancient Egypt beliefs and gods in the book, but it is history, and I found it fascinating.

Now, for what I did not like about the book. As with other Marie Benedict books I have read, I had trouble distinguishing between fiction and fact. There were quite a few times in the book when I googled things to see if they were true. Almost every time, they were not.

The ancient Egypt timeline focuses on Hatshepsut, who was one of the few female rulers in ancient Egypt. There is not a lot known about Hatshepsut, so I can see why a lot of fiction was added to the story, but I did think Marie Benedict may have taken a few too many liberties with history.

However, I still really enjoyed this book, and it inspired me to seek out more historical fiction set in Ancient times.