Another lavishly detailed epic of ancient Egypt from the New Zealand-born author of The Twelfth Transforming (1984), etc., as well as Stargate, a 1982 science-fiction title recently made into a movie. Here, Thu, a young woman more a.d. 1990s than 1100s b.c., will take on both Ramses III and the powerful priesthood as she strives for power, fame, and her beloved Egypt. The narrator of her own story of rags to riches and back to rags, Thu is an uneasy mix of Louisa May Alcott's Jo and one of Stephen King's adolescent horrorsthe blue-eyed daughter of peasants who, right from toddlerhood, yearns for something better. As a girl, Thu is trained by her illiterate motherthe local midwife, family-planner, and abortionistto follow in her footsteps. But, in secret, Thu, knowing she'll not make a good midwife, gets her older brother to teach her to read. A quick study, she dreams of leaving the village. ``I must get away from here or I will die,'' she says. And get away she does as, at only 12, she sneaks aboard the barge of visiting state seer and physician Hui and offers herself to him. Hui, however, has recently seen a blue-eyed girl in a vision and has other plans for this child. She's taken back to his home in the city, where she's taught history, politics, the appropriate etiquette and dress for a lady, as well as how to administer poisons. Thu is also cold-bloodedly ruthless and, with Hui's help, becomes for a time the favorite concubine of the Pharaoh. Later, when rejected by Ramses, she tries to murder him and his current favorite. She'll survive the incidentthough in disgrace. Splendid set-piece scenes cry out for movie treatment, but Thu is an anachronistic and unconvincing early Egyptian feminist.
Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1995
ISBN: 1-56947-043-X
Page Count: 513
Publisher: Soho
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This vibrant, thoughtful book from Katz (Over the Moon, 1997) continues her tribute to her adopted daughter, Lena, born in Guatemala. Lena is “seven. I am the color of cinnamon. Mom says she could eat me up”; she learns during a painting lesson that to get the color brown, she will have to “mix red, yellow, black, and white paints.” They go for a walk to observe the many shades of brown: they see Sonia, who is the color of creamy peanut butter; Isabella, who is chocolate brown; Lucy, both peachy and tan; Jo-Jin, the color of honey; Kyle, “like leaves in fall”; Mr. Pellegrino, the color of pizza crust, golden brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful, then mixes her paints accordingly for portraits of her friends—“The colors of us!” Bold illustrations celebrate diversity with a child’s open-hearted sensibility and a mother’s love. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5864-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
Neal Carey, the Smollett-loving specialist in finding people who don't want to be found (A Cool Breeze on the Underground, 1990), is hustled off to San Francisco to drag AWOL pesticide expert Robert Pendleton away from china doll Li Lan and back to paternal corporation AgriTech. But the fireworks that erupt after Neal's found the happy couple make him wonder whether gorgeous, talented painter Li Lan isn't actually a Communist agent who's trying to woo Pendleton back to her country; by the time Neal has been taken prisoner in the Walled City of Hong Kong, he's already gotten the Communists, the CIA, and AgriTech ready to burn him. And more trouble lies ahead, as shadowy patriarch Xao Xiyang and his treacherous underling Peng plot against each other to manipulate Neal into exposing Pendleton and Li Lan in a climax that still has room for a surprise or two. Despite Neal's inveterate habit of wising off in his mind's mouth, this is a sturdy two evenings' worth of entertainment.
Pub Date: March 18, 1992
ISBN: 0-312-07099-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1992
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