Monday 31 August 2009

The Glittering Eye by L J Adlington


July 2009, Hodder Children's Books
312 pages
Review copy

YA, historical

Cushions: 4/5
Daggers: 2/5
Tissues: 2/5
Yunaleska's overall rating ♥♥♥♥♥

What makes you think I like reading books based on Egypt? The Glittering Eye is a mysterious story, set in the modern day with Amy's tale. Amy, recovering from an accident which is intimated yet not fully explained until near the end, flies off to Egypt to join her father, an archaeologist with a TV shows on one of his digs. Little does she realise that it'll make her face her fears, have a mystical encounter with people from the past, and move on from her grief. I like how Amy's life is complicated before the story starts - characters with baggage add lots of conflict to a story.

I'm a little reluctant to say much about Shabti's story. The more I read, the more the puzzle pieces clicked into place as to who he was, and where he was. Having no memory of his past, he spends his life as a slave in a strange land where he isn't given any food or water. What else is he supposed to do to ease his thirst and hunger than to steal? It isn't him who is stealing the lady of house Anhai's perfume bottle and other objects. Who - or more accurately what is causing the disappearances? Why is there a dark space in the garden which leads to a random room? Why are the cats so friendly to him?

Mystical forces cause an intimate connection between Egypt's ancient realms and the modern world. I love the switching of stories which slowly revealed information making me think 'aha! about where the story was heading. I was partially correct in what happened at the ending, and happily surprised at the final outcome. Knowing the truth, I want to read the book all over again. I will eventually - just not for a while with all the other books to read!

If a reader starts this book with little knowledge about the colour world of ancient Egypt, they'll end it with quite a wide understanding of the Egyptian view on the afterlife. All the processes which I've read about before are clearly depicted here, making it an informative novel, which will hopefully spark some people's interest into this interesting period in time.

L J Adlington's website is here.

Like this? Try Dianne Hofmeyr's Egyptian duology or Gill Harvey's Egyptian mystery.

No comments: