The Stolen Queen

 The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis is the latest of this author's fabulous historical novels. 

Taking the historical story of the rediscovery of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh of ancient Egypt.  Using some of the real facts about the mummy of Hatshepsut and her discovery by mummy by Egyptologists Elizabeth Thomas and Christiane Deroche, Davis creates a wonderful novel around the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Also incorporated is the fashion icon Diana Vreeland, editor in chief of Vogue magazine, who also was known for creating the Met Gala between 1973-1989.

Using those historical tidbits as background Davis builds her novel around 1939 when anthropology student Charlotte Cross goes on a coveted dig in Egypt and falls in love and the all experince ends in tragedy.  Then in 1978 as Cross is working for the Met as the associate curator of the Department of Egyptian Art a an artifact comes across her desk that brings all her memories back from her time in Egpyt.

Also young Annie Jenkins a 19 year old is so excited when she lands a job working as Diana Vreeland's assistant for the Meet Gala.  When things go wrong, Annie must find a way to save her job, the event and recover the stolen queen, a valuable artifact stolen from the museum.

Annie and Charlotte team up to find the stolen statuette and find themselves helping each other.  Charlotte will have Annie by her side to help her face the demons of her past and Annie will have Charlotte there to help Annie clear her name and help her start over working at the Met. 

Such an entertaining novel, you can just picture hot desert sun, the hush of the tomb as the archeologists uncover Hatshepsut and other important finds.  Also the glamour of the Met Gala and the nononsense attitude of Diana Vreeland is palpable.