With few clues to as who her real family was, Lydia has
found some familial comfort in Cleopatra's palace, though
certainly not from the intense Cleopatra herself. When one
she loves dies and leaves her with a special mission
involving the scrolls of the prophet Daniel, Lydia has to
leave the only place she's known as home and enter King
Herod's court. Lydia will have to do her best to complete
her mission without becoming involved in the many betrayals
and deceptions of the court.
Though I can easily see this being an awesome read for some,
THE QUEEN'S HANDMAID isn't for me. Tracy L. Higley paints an
excellent portrait of long ago Egypt and Jerusalem, and the
determination and sincerity in Lydia's character is
beautiful. However, there is quite a bit of politics going
on in this story, from Cleopatra's agenda to Herod's to
Octavian's to Marc Antony's etc. While politics can be a
great source of intrigue and plot, it feels like there is
too much of it going on here. The background research is
clearly thorough and well-done, but it comes off a bit much.
The deal with the scrolls seems to actually get lost in the
middle of the all the politics, especially as years passed.
They were so intriguing at first that I really wanted to
know more about them, but they just seemed to fade away
until occasionally they popped back up. Lydia's journey is
nicely relatable as she tries to figure out what she stands
for. Her interactions with Simon are nice in supporting
that, though I wish his character had a little more page
time.
Though it won't be on my favorite's list, THE QUEEN'S
HANDMAID by Tracy L. Higley definitely has a solid story and
elements to it that I'm sure could make it someone else's
favorite. I would suggest it to readers who want a clean,
political, and religious historical fiction.
From the servant halls of Cleopatra’s Egyptian palace to the
courts of Herod the Great, Lydia will serve two queens to
see prophecy fulfilled.
Alexandria, Egypt 39 BC
Orphaned at birth, Lydia was raised as a servant in
Cleopatra's palace, working hard to please while keeping
everyone at arm's length. She's been rejected and left with
a broken heart too many times in her short life.
But then her dying mentor entrusts her with secret writings
of the prophet Daniel and charges her to deliver this vital
information to those watching for the promised King of
Israel. Lydia must leave the nearest thing she’s had to
family and flee to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy City, she
attaches herself to the newly appointed king, Herod the
Great, as handmaid to Queen Mariamme.
Trapped among the scheming women of Herod’s political
family—his sister, his wife, and their mothers—and forced to
serve in the palace to protect her treasure, Lydia must
deliver the scrolls before dark forces warring against the
truth destroy all hope of the coming Messiah.
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