Review: House of Illusions by Pauline Gedge

Hardcover: 436 pages

Publisher: Moyer Bell and its subsidiaries; 1st edition (July 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1559212004
ISBN-13: 978-1559212007
Genre: historical fiction
Target group: adults

Warning

As it is the sequel of House of Dreams, reviewed by me not so long ago, the synopsis contains spoilers, especially concerning the first part's ending.

Synopsis:

The narration picks up 16 years after the catastrophic coup which almost cost Thu her life. She was lucky to be banished to her home village of Aswat, the place she had been so eager to escape. Now she lives in a hut next to the local temple of Wepwawep, a minor war god and also her personal totem. She serves the priests and cleans the temple, reduced to the lowest of low, a menial worker nobody wants to talk with. Thu is not a woman who would get depressed and reconcile with her fate, though. She thinks she stands a chance, however flimsy, of being pardonned. She must reach the old, ailing Pharaoh Ramses III and present her side of the story - everything she has personally written on papyrus scraps stolen from the temple. In order to do so she tires to get one of royal Heralds who visit the village from time to time to take her diary (not revealing its content) to the court. So far nobody has been foolish enough or sympathetic enough to agree. Finally she gets her chance.

Kamen, a young, sixteen-year-old soldier and the adopted son of a merchant, now on his way back from Nubia, spends the night in Aswat and is, like his predecessors, accosted by Thu. Of course she asks him to deliver an intricately bound package to the pharaoh. Kamen's companions dismiss the woman as mad, but he himself, impressed by her elegant accent and behaviour, agrees to take it. Back in the capital, he hands it over to his commanding general Paiis, and when Paiis realizes what the package contains he and his former co-conspirators decide to act quickly. Kamen is commanded to return to Aswat, allegedly to arrest and bring the woman to the city. Surprisingly he is accompanied by a silent Libu mercenary who happens to be a hired assassin. In Aswat, Kamen and Thu narrowly escape death. Thu decides to return to Pi-Ramses and seek a hearing before the Pharaoh on her own. Although Kamen is determined to help her it will be a dangerous enterprise, full of sudden twists, turns and intrigues.


What I liked:

This part, unlike the first one, has three narrators: Kamen, Kaha the scribe and Thu herself. I liked such a way of narrating better as we can see the same events from more than one perspective. The narration remains fast-paced, full of twists and turns but some of them were rather predictable. Gedge makes daily life in Egypt come alive – I enjoyed it as much as in the first novel.

Thu is still a tremendous character, full of zest for life and stubbornness despite her miserable condition. Although she remains a double murderess we see that she has changed; it is especially visible in the scene when Thu is asked by her former harem friend to prepare a poison and help her commit suicide. I liked that new incarnation of her a lot.

What I didn’t like:

In the first book, there was some plausibility in the story but in the sequel there was little left. In fact it is more a fairy tale than historical fiction.

The authoress decided to end the book with truly an unbelievable HEA, something which can be accepted only by hard-core Harlequin fans. Perhaps it was supposed to be sweet and romantic but I found it unbelievable. Thu was simply too successful in getting her revenge. I couldn’t believe for instance that, after letting her stay 17 years in exile, the old, bedridden Ramses not only remembered her and her coup so well but also took such an uncommon interest in compensating her every loss. If he loved her so much why he waited so long?

Finally I missed Hui and regretted the fact that we saw so little of him – after all, next to Thu, he was the most complex and the most interesting character of the first part. Here his role was limited – he seemed only a pale shadow of his former self. New characters, introduced in this part, couldn't equal him in any way.

Final verdict:

It's still a good book, and I enjoyed reading it despite the cheesy ending but not as much as the first part. Unfortunately it confirms the rule that sequels are usually worse.

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Review: House of Dreams (Lady of the Reeds in the US) by Pauline Gedge

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You wouldn't believe it (I wouldn't believe it for sure) - on Wednesday I posted my wish here, on Friday the book was brought to me! Woohoo! If the life was always so nice and easy we would live in heaven! Ok back to earth: here is the review.


Paperback: 513 pages
Publisher: Viking (1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670855987
ISBN-13: 978-0670855988
Genre: historical fiction (ancient Egypt)
Target group: adults


Synopsis:

House of Dreams is a fictional diary of Lady Thu of Aswat.

Thu, a peasant girl living in a small godforsaken village, is an unusual child and not only because her eyes, inherited from the foreign father, are blue. She is uncommonly intelligent and ambitious too. Unfortunately her life choices seem to be severely limited – she is bound to become an illiterate midwife, like her mother and grandmother. Thu is strong-willed and resourceful, though – she wants to find a way out of her cage at all costs. She pesters her older brother, who has the good luck of attending a temple school for future scribes, and he finally agrees to teach her to read and write. It is of course not enough. Thu becomes really desperate and all of a sudden she thinks her prayers were finally answered - the great seer Hui, who is also a physician to the Pharaoh, visits Aswat to commune with their god of war, Wepwawet, in his temple. Thu climbs his barge at night and begs Hui to take her to his house in Pi-Ramesse and teach his art. She offers herself in return. Hui, impressed by her eyes, courage, and intelligence, agrees but he doesn’t make Thu his lover (at least not then). His plans for her are much more far-sighted, ambitious and dangerous – for that she must also stay a virgin.

Thu is kept in Hui’s comfortable house and slowly she is transformed from am ungainly peasant girl into a healer and a young aristocratic beauty - well-bred, fully literate, well-groomed and well-behaved. Hui takes her to the royal palace, officially to diagnose and cure the middle-aged Pharaoh Ramesses II, known for his philandering habit. As the clever seer predicted, Ramesses is instantly smitten with the nubile, witty Thu – so smitten that the girl is instantly invited to become a royal concubine. It is a huge social advance for a daughter of a midwife and an ex-mercenary. However Thu thinks she would prefer to marry Hui, her teacher and benefactor but also a man of uncommon beauty (really uncommon, trust me!) but the seer refuses her shy advances - he has other plans for his pupil.  Finally Thu agrees to join the harem and lands in another cage. The royal quarters are undoubtedly a luxurious place to live in but still they remain just a bigger cage with very limited options for such an ambitious young girl. Still Thu is determined to use them all.

Very quickly she becomes the king’s favourite concubine, showered with gifts, jewellery and attention. Now she wants to be a queen. She is not aware of the fact that she has been cruelly manipulated by people she trusts the most. She gets pregnant against her intentions (mysteriously her contraception cure, so efficient so far, fails her), gives birth to a boy and then, a normal course of events in the case of concubines, loses the Pharaoh’s interest. A new girl, younger, fresher and equally ambitious, appears in the palace. Thu is furious, humiliated but more than ever determined to return to her previous position or even achieve something more. She visits Hui, her beloved master, and he cleverly suggests a way out. When you are angry and disappointed you tend to make mistakes. Thu makes a lot of them. She has to learn a new lesson – very bitter and almost fatal - if you are just a poor peasant girl, with no social status or relatives to speak of, you will become the scapegoat of the powerful and the rich as soon as something goes wrong. Sometimes even before anything goes wrong. Often not being aware of it.

What I liked:

This book is, in my humble opinion, a perfect example how any historical fiction novel should be written. It is based on real story of a coup d’etat performed by one of Ramesses’s concubines which description was saved in several source documents (those sources are listed in the book). Of course the authoress added some fictional characters, filling in the story very nicely; she also decided to make the concubine speak for herself and explain how by her own choice she became a cold-hearted murderess to fulfill her impossible dreams.

It was a brilliant story – creative, original, fun and in almost perfect accordance with our current knowledge about the culture of ancient Egypt. The characters are well-rounded and psychologically believable, especially Hui and Thu. The end is not tragic although it does leave you a bit sad (and I did what I could in order not to spoil you!). In short I was enthralled! Young Thu won my heart although she could be incredibly naïve, cruel and infuriating at the same time.

What I didn’t like:

I found just one minor flaw: talking with Thu one night, the Pharaoh expresses his anger because Egyptian peasants are not aware of the current troubles of their country. I almost snorted. Firstly, hello Your Highness - these people can’t read and write, the majority of them! How can they find out what’s happening? Watching TV? Ok, sorry, unfair question...looking at a comic carved on a pyramid?
Secondly, I doubt any pharaoh would really like his subjects to know about any political troubles. Ancient Egypt was not a democracy and pharaohs were gods - there can’t be any troubles in a country ruled by a living god, right? It is always the official line of autocrats old and new – all is in order, nothing unusual happens, the country is strong, the king is good, healthy, wise, far-sighted and knows the best, continue what you are doing, do not think too much…

Final verdict:

I've already ordered the sequel (House of Illusions) – should I say more?