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Fiona Davis, author of “The Stolen Queen,” has placed her main characters in a New York City landmark, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this setting, Davis combines mystery and historical fiction to create a suspenseful novel that provides insight into the inner workings of an art museum. In this case, specifically the Department of Egyptian Art.
The novel comprises two time periods alternating between 1978 and 1936. Charlotte Morris is the associate curator of the Egyptian Art Collection at the Met in 1978. In 1936, she was a young woman working on an archaeological dig in the Valley of Kings in Egypt.
Young Charlotte discovered steps leading to the tomb of Hathorkare, considered at the time to be a minor female pharaoh who tried to usurp the rightful pharaoh, Saukemet II. Because Charlotte was only an assistant, her discovery was attributed to the male archaeologists with her on the dig.
Of more importance to the archaeologists was the discovery within the tomb, a jewel-encrusted necklace of great value. All finds from the dig were supposed to go to the Egyptian Museum of Art.
When Charlotte sails back to America with her new husband and infant child, she discovers that her husband has stolen the necklace. Disaster strikes, and she believes the necklace has been lost in the Nile River. Her husband and daughter are missing.
Charlotte later discovers that a curse has been made on anyone who removes objects from the Egyptian kingdom related to Hathorkare. Violators of her wishes will face “the wrath of the Gods.” She believes her family has been a victim of the curse.
Charlotte is beyond shocked when the necklace, supposedly lost at sea, shows up as a gift to the museum 42 years after its disappearance. Privacy prevents her from finding out who donated the necklace. She begins to wonder if her husband could be alive after last seeing him on the ship.
The necklace is stolen during the annual Metropolitan Art Gala. Charlotte decides to return to Egypt, suspecting that the necklace has been stolen to be returned to its rightful place in the Egyptian Art Museum. Charlotte also wants to find out definitively if her husband and her daughter could be alive. She knows that her husband was the last to have possession of the necklace.
Before Charlotte leaves for Egypt, she finds that her research notes on which she has worked for years, regarding the importance of the female pharaoh Hathokare, are missing. She is convinced that someone does not want Hathokare’s true story to be revealed. Mystery, danger, and shocking revelations follow Charlotte in Egypt and upon her return to New York.
With the publication of “The Stolen Queen,” Davis has continued her pattern of writing about women connected to the past whose gifts and input have been ignored because of their gender and of women who eventually gain respect through acknowledged contributions to their work.
About the Author; Fiona Davis is the bestselling author of many books set in historical landmarks including the The New York Public Library in “The Lions of Fifth Avenue;” The Dakota, in “The Address;” and Grand Central Terminal in “The Masterpiece.” She lives in New York City.
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