Morbid Romantic

Book Review & Personal Blog

It is my distinct pleasure to bring to you today a guest post by Michelle Moran, author of Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen, and Cleopatra’s Daughter. I have no shame for my obvious envy of Michelle Moran– she has seen things that I can at this point only dream of… The Mamertine, The House of Augustus, the original floor of the Senate… it’s just too much to think about. For this reason, I am absolutely delighted to welcome Michelle Moran to Morbid Romantic to discuss her love of history since I also share a deep love for Ancient Rome and Egypt.

For every novel I have written, I can look back and say that there has been a very specific moment of inspiration – usually in some exotic locale or inside a museum – where I’ve said, “Aha! That’s going to be the subject of my next novel.” I never began my writing career with the intention to write books about three different princesses in Egypt. In fact, I had no intention of writing about ancient Egypt at all until I participated in my first archaeological dig.

During my sophomore year in college, I found myself sitting in Anthropology 101, and when the professor mentioned that she was looking for volunteers who would like to join a dig in Israel, I was one of the first students to sign up. When I got to Israel, however, all of my archaeological dreams were dashed (probably because they centered around Indiana Jones). There were no fedora wearing men, no cities carved into rock, and certainly no Ark of the Covenant. I was very disappointed. Not only would a fedora have seemed out of place, but I couldn’t even use the tiny brushes I had packed. Apparently, archaeology is more about digging big ditches with pickaxes rather than dusting off artifacts. And it had never occurred to me until then that in order to get to those artifacts, one had to dig deep into the earth. Volunteering on an archaeological dig was hot, it was sweaty, it was incredibly dirty, and when I look back on the experience through the rose-tinged glasses of time, I think, Wow, was it fantastic! Especially when our team discovered an Egyptian scarab that proved the ancient Israelites had once traded with the Egyptians. Looking at that scarab in the dirt, I began to wonder who had owned it, and what had possessed them to undertake the long journey from their homeland to the fledgling country of Israel.

On my flight back to America I stopped in Berlin, and with a newfound appreciation for Egyptology, I visited the museum where Nefertiti’s limestone bust was being housed. The graceful curve of Nefertiti’s neck, her arched brows, and the faintest hint of a smile were captivating to me. Who was this woman with her self-possessed gaze and stunning features? I wanted to know more about Nefertiti’s story, but when I began the research into her life, it proved incredibly difficult. She’d been a woman who’d inspired powerful emotions when she lived over three thousand years ago, and those who had despised her had attempted to erase her name from history. Yet even in the face of such ancient vengeance, some clues remained.

As a young girl Nefertiti had married a Pharaoh who was determined to erase the gods of Egypt and replace them with a sun-god he called Aten. It seemed that Nefertiti’s family allowed her to marry this impetuous king in the hopes that she would tame his wild ambitions. What happened instead, however, was that Nefertiti joined him in building his own capital of Amarna where they ruled together as god and goddess. But the alluring Nefertiti had a sister who seemed to keep her grounded, and in an image of her found in Amarna, the sister is standing off to one side, her arms down while everyone else is enthusiastically praising the royal couple. From this image, and a wealth of other evidence, I tried to recreate the epic life of an Egyptian queen whose husband was to become known as the Heretic King.

Each novel I’ve written has had a similar moment of inspiration for me. In many ways, my second book, The Heretic Queen is a natural progression from Nefertiti. The narrator is orphaned Nefertari, who suffers terribly because of her relationship to the reviled “Heretic Queen”. Despite the Heretic Queen’s death a generation prior, Nefertari is still tainted by her relationship to Nefertiti, and when young Ramesses falls in love and wishes to marry her, it is a struggle not just against an angry court, but against the wishes of a rebellious people.

But perhaps I would never have chosen to write on Nefertari at all if I hadn’t seen her magnificent tomb. At one time, visiting her tomb was practically free, but today, a trip underground to see one of the most magnificent places on earth can cost upwards of five thousand dollars (yes, you read that right). If you want to share the cost and go with a group, the cost lowers to the bargain-basement price of about three thousand. As a guide told us of the phenomenal price, I looked at my husband, and he looked at me. We had flown more than seven thousand miles, suffered the indignities of having to wear the same clothes for three days because of lost luggage… and really, what were the possibilities of our ever returning to Egypt again? There was only one choice. We paid the outrageous price, and I have never forgotten the experience.

While breathing in some of the most expensive air in the world, I saw a tomb that wasn’t just fit for a queen, but a goddess. In fact, Nefertari was only one of two (possibly three) queens ever deified in her lifetime, and as I gazed at the vibrant images on her tomb – jackals and bulls, cobras and gods – I knew that this wasn’t just any woman, but a woman who had been loved fiercely when she was alive. Because I am a sucker for romances, particularly if those romances actually happened, I immediately wanted to know more about Nefertari and Ramesses the Great. So my next stop was the Hall of Mummies at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There, resting beneath a heavy arc of glass, was the great Pharaoh himself. For a ninety-something year old man, he didn’t look too bad. His short red hair was combed back neatly and his face seemed strangely peaceful in its three thousand year repose. I tried to imagine him as he’d been when he was young – strong, athletic, frighteningly rash and incredibly romantic. Buildings and poetry remain today as testaments to Ramesses’s softer side, and in one of Ramesses’s more famous poems he calls Nefertari “the one for whom the sun shines.” His poetry to her can be found from Luxor to Abu Simbel, and it was my visit to Abu Simbel (where Ramesses built a temple for Nefertari) where I finally decided that I had to tell their story.

It’s the moments like this that an historical fiction author lives for. And it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that my decision to write Cleopatra’s Daughter came on an underwater dive to see the submerged city of ancient Alexandria. Traveling has been enormously important in my career. My adventures end up inspiring not only what I’m currently writing, but what I’m going to write about in the future.

For more information about Michelle Moran:
Website
Blog

Title: Born Losers: A History of Failure in America
Author(s): Scott A. Sandage
Genre: Nonfiction – History
Finished: September 14, 2009
Rating: 5 Stars

In Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, author Scott A. Sandage points out that the nineteenth century, despite being an age of capitalism, industrialization, and promise, was also an age of great economic hardship and loss for men and women who together created a culture of failure that personally and morally defined them. Society and the government held people individually accountable for failure despite circumstance, and relief was hard to come by because the government did not have the systems in place to manage it. When failure occurred, it was “a reason, in the man.” The prevailing idea that “no one fails who ought not fail” identified men to such a point that failure was a matter of personal worth, morality, and virtue. That only a man himself could be blamed for failure no matter the cause created a multitude of dynamics: drive vs. risk, innovation vs. safety, and failure vs. the possibility of any future success. Once failure was stuck to you and became a part of your identity, it was a hard label to shake. Especially with the birth of Tappan’s very first credit report agency that sent out personal information to aid in assessing the possible risk and success of others.

Sandage’s greatest strength lies in his usage of primary source documents and the many stories and examples they provide his book. They, large in number, not only give creditability to the story, but they raise interest so that the book is enjoyable to read. It is an illuminating and fun look at something that is normally depressing in nature—failure and stigma placed on personal identity. It is obvious by the number of sources used and documented that Sandage has put a great deal of research into the book. In the sense that it is well researched and documented, it is a reputable piece of scholarship for something paid little attention to. Sandage also suitably links the identity of failure to today by tracing how ideas and perceptions formed into what modern people think and feel. There is a clear connection between past and present, which gives the book modern day relevancy.

I would have liked, though, a section to provide a less narrow focus. Perhaps not for the whole book, because the subject itself makes it necessary to focus on specifics, but a chapter to help place failure within the larger scheme of things. While Sandage provides a great number of failure stories, his success stories are few and far between such that it is hard to get a grasp of whether failure was as prevalent and powerful as made to seem suggested by primary source evidence and first hand accounts. It is impossible to tell from the book if failure, while still being a serious issue of self identity and crisis, was a small percentage as compared to relative successes. The evidence given begs the question: would the government have acted faster to aid those in need if failure was truly so prevalent? The answer is: I don’t know. Nevertheless, the question and answer could have been addressed to further illuminate the culture of failure and its political ramifications. It would have also helped to frame the larger scope of American life and identity to pay more attention to the successes and contributions of women, the poor, and laborers. While not as numerous or as devastating as riches to rags middle class male business failure/success stories, as culture defined these things, it would still serve to paint a more complete image of the situation experienced by all of America, not just business men. This would also include black men and a more in depth look at how failure and success came to define them during the Antebellum and Reconstruction years.

Sandage does not try to define, “what is failure?” That is not the point of the book or his reasons for writing it. The book is about how failure was perceived and how it came to define people and their worth. Failure is simply what it is: a lack of success. Born Losers was written to tell the other side of America in an age of trumped success and unlimited possibility.

Sandage is not only a great historian, but an excellent storyteller. There is no droning of dry, fact-by fact history here. Sandage paints a picture that reads as easily and fun as a novel, even more entertaining because he is speaking of something real and relevant. There is a lot of humor in the story, but none done out of disrespect. The book, while funny and fun, stays respectful to the people involved. You will definitely feel like you got something out of this book by the time you put it down, whether it be from the vast knowledge or the pure entertainment value. We all love to laugh at tragedy, after all, especially when it is not our own.

__________
Disclaimer(s):

- More can be found in my Reviews section or on my Biblio page. If you would like to see my book list for 2009, go here.

- If you would like me to review your book, send an email to me at morbidromantic@gmail.com. Read my Book Review Policy for more information.

Sheri over at A Novel Menagerie (one of my favorite book blogs) is a tour stop for the book The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. I had mentioned earlier to Sheri in one of her posts that my family was and is still for the most part, Mormon. She later on approached me to give a bit of my own family’s history, which was a great honor and allowed me the rare excuse to open up the family tombs and look at pictures and bios. It had been a while. I could have written page after page, but I gave just a few stories to Sheri. So, check out her blog tour post and review, as well as my piece about my family.

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.

And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.

My family has a very deep and rich history in the Mormon Church. They are early members of the Church and Pioneers of Utah with Brigham Young. In addition, they are pioneers of a more intimate nature, entrepreneurs and settlers of the west. My family has owned hotels, saloons, general stores, etc, etc.

Both were born in 1801 and met in Ohio and slowly moved West with the Latter Day Saints, following the calling of Brigham Young. It is said that James and Mary were members 30 and 31 of the church. James was ordained an Elder in the church in 1836, and was selected to be a Bishop by Young in 1846. Mormons were heavily persecuted then, driven off their land and killed. It is quote to be said, “It is no worse to kill a Mormon than it is to kill a wild animal.” Seeking a better place to settle, James and his family moved to Salt Lake City in 1851 and then finally to Fillmore, Utah in 1852. Fillmore, Utah is still a major ‘hub’ of my portion of the Huntsman family. My grandparents own a home there and many of my relatives are and continue to be buried in the Fillmore Cemetery. James, though Mormon, never took a second wife. Though, as you can read for yourself in Sheri’s post, he was approached about it. Mary would have none of it, though.

Gabriel Huntsman is the son of James and Mary, born 1830 and married to Eunice Holbrook. He was just six years old when his family moved out West. He went on Missions as any good Mormon did, and always came back to Fillmore. On one of his trips, be brought back kerosene lamps, which were the first to be used in Fillmore, Utah. His most notable contribution to my family’s history is the Huntsman Hotel, built in 1872 by Hans Hanson.

The building had 24 rooms and housed some very important historical figures, even Young himself. The hotel unfortunately no longer stands, but a reproduction of the hotel can be found at Heritage Village in Salt Lake City. Though much of it is new, a few items such as the doors were donated by my grandparents.

Gabriel was also ‘unable’ to take a second wife. For that tidbit and story, read Sheri’s post.

Gabriel Riley Huntsman is the son of Gabriel and Eunice, born 1856 and married to Hannah Hanson (daughter of Hans Hanson). Gabriel Riley was an intelligent man and attended B.Y. Academy for dentistry. His bit of experience in dentist work, and his ownership of a pair of tooth pulling forceps, earned him the nickname “Doc.” Initially, he was in the business of Cattle, but eventually operated a mercantile business and bought a butcher shop. Hannah was an excellent bookkeeper and Gabriel Riley loved to brag around town and to his own children that she was the smartest woman in Fillmore. A lumber yard was later purchased and moved close to the Huntsman Hotel. Finally, in 1899, Gabriel and Hannah built a two story department store, which was the largest south of Provo. The building still stands.

When Gabriel passed away, Gabriel Riley and Hannah purchased the Huntsman Hotel, adding it to their list of growing investments.

George Huntsman, the sun of Gabriel Riley and Hannah, was born in 1901 and married Chlora “Toots” Lewis. They are the parents of my grandfather and my great grandparents. George purchased his father’s mercantile business and served in the military during WWII, becoming a Colonel. George was also a school teacher, so I guess we now know that my families history of school teaching starts with him… or even starts earlier with Hannah.

I would LOVE to read The 19th Wife myself, and have added it to my Paperbackswap list. Hopefully I can read it soon! If you’d like to win a copy, you can enter at A Novel Menagerie, where Sheri is giving away a copy. The contest ends June 19th.

What event in history or historical person do you feel had the greatest influence on the modern world and why?

I am the one who asked this question, yet even I realize just how impossible a task it is to decide with any certainty an answer. I am a historian and I know that no one person or event has singularly shaped the modern world. Indeed, we are now the culmination of the contributions of millions of people and things. So, this answer is really a matter of opinion coupled with facts and/or sentiment, but it presents no finality. In essence: there is no right answer. I also think given the question, it would be acceptable to single out a nation or country. An answer would have to be based on the world as the answerer sees it.

But what to choose? What to single out and put my finger on, point to and say, “this?”

Roman Emperor Justinian I created the Corpus Juris Civilis that helped form some of our modern laws. The American Revolution inspired the French Revolution. The New Deal inspired The Great Society, which in turn evolved the welfare state, the demolition of which characterizes the Reagan administration. There are millions upon millions, perhaps even billions, of historical connections that fuse the past with the present in very obvious ways. In fact, it is almost futile to try to make sense of it all and unwind the tangles of history. Though one may isolate history and determine cause and effect, even causes have causes, and those causes have causes, and effects are rarely ever singular in nature. In short, you start with one point and end up with countless threads extending both back and forth.

All that said, I have thought this over for a while and come to my event: the Assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Este Franz Ferdinand on June 14, 1914. He was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia who was also in affiliation with The Black Hand organization. The purpose was to break free from Austrio-Hungarian control and become part of Greater Serbia. The first assassination attempt failed when a grenade was lobbed at the car and bounced off harmlessly. To protect the Archduke and his wife, the driver took a backway route out of ‘harms way’ and managed to end up right in front of Princip, who shot both Franz and his wife dead.

It was a snowball effect from here.

Austria-Hungary delivered to Serbia the July Ultimatum, which they knew Serbia would not be able to accept because Serbia did not want Austro-Hungarian police in their territory. Based on the response of Serbia, Vienna declared war on July 28th.

So, a small war between two small world powers. Easy to quell, right?

Wrong.

The arms race of nations to compete and tip the scales of the balance of power made everything volatile, and nationalism heated up everyone. And the war wouldn’t have been as wide reaching if not for the secret treaties previously delegated that began to come out one at a time. It was like a European wide domino effect once Vienna declared war on little Serbia. Russian joined in the war to defend Serbia as part of a treaty, and Germany came in on the side of their Austrio-Hungarian friends. Then cue Britain, France, and Italy and the whole mess escalated into…

World War I.

What is the legacy of World War I? Why has it had such a influence on the modern world?

First, World War I was the first war fought in a ‘modern’ sense. Rather, the men learned very fast how to fight a modern war since the war began with modern weapons being used in old fashioned ways. This had the unfortunate result of men being offed like desperate lambs sent to slaughter. Militaries learned to hide in trenches or in tanks, to wear uniforms that blended in with the surroundings, to wear masks or lob at each other gases that would suffocate a person in seconds.

Second, it was during World War I that Russia began to shift towards Communism in earnest. With the creation of the Comintern, Communism began to expand to surrounding areas such as North Korea, China, and Vietnam. Americans would later fight in Korea and in Vietnam, and China would shift greatly under their Communist Regime. Also, Communism went head to head with Democracy during the Cold War, which shifted American thinking and society a great deal.

Third, the Versailles Treaty would wind up the cause of another great war. Yes, World War II. The War Guilt Clause placed the blame of the war on Germany… and the cost. Anger towards not only America and the Allied Powers, but also the German government that had submitted to the clause, would plant the seeds of a later take over by Adolf Hitler. You would think that would be all to this, but it’s not. Germany went into debt trying to pay off the cost of the war that they were blamed for. The German government had to borrow money from America to pay off their debts. When the American stock market collapsed, so too did Germany’s. Since the payments were going to other major European Powers, they too felt the devastation of the Great Depression. It was a world wide phenomena. Out of the Depression, we got the New Deal, which created the foundations of the Welfare State.

Fourth, Wilson created the League of Nations. Though the League of Nations was a weak body (not enough diplomacy, no military, etc), it was the beginnings of what would later be created and called the United Nations.

Fifth, the end of imperialism. After the war ended, the Western powers began to dismantle old empires and pull out of their external holdings. New countries were created and supported. Nationalism won out. But, the effect was not all positive because new lines were drawn in continents such as Africa, which paid no attention to tribal lines. A lot of conflict in Africa today derives from these random boundary lines.

These are just five things that have come from World War I that have changed the world. They are by no means the ONLY effects. The assassination of a barely significant Archduke in a small Baltic country led to a world war that shaped us into the world we are today.

Then again, we could just blame all of this on Kaiser Wilhelm’s gimp arm and call it a day.