Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
June 17, 2021
Hieroglyphs – pictures to represent letters, sounds, objects and ideas – are one of the most enduring legacies of Ancient Egypt.
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Ancient Egyptian art
June 14, 2021
When you think of Ancient Egypt, no doubt you think of its distinctive art: embellishments in tombs and temples, beautiful statues, pottery and papyrus.
Love in the pandemic: falling in love, staying in love
June 10, 2021
Throughout the pandemic, I have had love on my mind. Love for my family, of course, but also romantic love, about which I write in my novels. Time and again I’ve questioned: how is this difficult time affecting romance?
The heroine and the harem
June 7, 2021
‘A rare rose to add to my garden…’ How will Aida, heroine of Song of the Nile, feel about visiting a prince’s harem?
The Pharos of Alexandria
June 3, 2021
Home for me in Egypt is Alexandria, the Bride of the Mediterranean, the centre of the Mediterranean world in ancient times – and the location of the Pharos of Alexandria.
A heroine struggling to trust
May 31, 2021
In Song of the Nile, Aida is a woman who has felt the sharp sting of betrayal, leaving her wounded and wary. Dare she trust again?
Egyptian mummification: The key to eternal life
May 27, 2021
When you think of Ancient Egypt, no doubt you think of mummies. But why exactly did the Egyptians preserve people in this way, and how?
Protecting Egyptian antiquities
May 24, 2021
Running through Song of the Nile is a dark thread: the trafficking and smuggling of precious antiquities that belong, by right, to the Egyptian people.
Reasons to read ebooks
May 20, 2021
Do you read ebooks? If not, you’re missing out on some great advantages…
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb
May 17, 2021
There is no more renowned discovery in Egyptology than the tomb of Tutankhamun. Let me take you back to the early 1920s and tell you the story of the greatest find of our time…
‘Flying without wings’: the Arabian horse in Song of the Nile
May 13, 2021
The Arabian horse breed can be traced back thousands of years. ‘Thou shalt fly without wings and conquer without swords’ is how the Quran refers to this horse.
David Roberts: 19th-century paintings of Egypt
May 10, 2021
Inspiration for my novel Song of the Nile, the artworks of 19th-century painter David Roberts…
Coptic Cairo and the Hanging Church
May 6, 2021
A place of great significance to many people, Coptic Cairo, with its famous Hanging Church, is one of my favourite parts of the city.
The Khan el-Khalili, Cairo
May 3, 2021
In Song of the Nile, Phares and Aida explore a famous and historic part of Cairo: the Khan el-Khalili bazaar and souk.
The ancient Egyptian signs of the Zodiac
April 29, 2021
For the ancient Egyptians, there was great meaning in the heavens above. The planets and stars could help you understand who you were and what would happen in the future.
Guiding the dead: Ancient Egyptian funerary texts
April 26, 2021
How would a pharaoh’s spirit navigate to the glorious afterlife? For ancient Egyptians, the answer was simple: follow the funerary texts, a kind of ‘afterlife guidebook’.
Karnak Temple, Luxor, ‘the greatest monument ever made’
April 22, 2021
The largest temple complex ever built with a construction history spanning 2,000 years, Karnak is one of the most important ancient sites in Egypt.
Favourite Egyptian proverbs
April 19, 2021
Every country has its proverbs, little sayings passed down from generation to generation that impart wisdom and tell truths, and Egypt is no exception.
Aida: an opera of love and tragedy
April 15, 2021
The heroine of my novel Song of the Nile is named Aida for the opera – a passionate, dramatic story of love and tragedy.
The royal women of ancient Egypt
April 12, 2021
What did it mean to be both royal and female in ancient times? How much autonomy and power did royal women hold? Was it as glamorous as a Cleopatra movie?
The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade, Cairo
April 8, 2021
Saturday was a very big day for the people of Egypt: with great fanfare, eighteen of their ancient kings and four of their queens were transported through Cairo to their new resting place.
The Mosque of Muhammed Ali, Cairo
April 6, 2021
One of the great landmarks of the city, visible from all over, the so-called Alabaster Mosque is a place of great beauty and reverence, a ‘must see’ if you visit Cairo.
A taste of Egypt: Basbousa recipe
April 1, 2021
I love to cook, and I explore cuisines from all over the world in my kitchen. Writing a new novel is the perfect reason to try out recipes from a new country! For Song of the Nile, I returned to dishes from my childhood, growing up in Egypt – in particular, my favourite sweet treat, basbousa.
Deciphering the Rosetta Stone: Jean-François Champollion
March 29, 2021
How is it we can understand the hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians today? Two amazing breakthroughs made this possible: the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the work of French scholar Jean-François Champollion.
Gezireh Island, Cairo
March 25, 2021
Gezireh Island is my favourite part of Cairo, for I lived here for many happy years with my husband and children. It’s a beautiful, multicultural place, and is home to several places of historical and cultural interest. Let me take you on a little tour…
Amelia Edwards: Egyptologist and inspiration
March 22, 2021
Traveller, writer, Egyptologist – Amelia Edwards was a legend of the 19th century, and she continues to be an inspiration to this day.
Chic and elegant: Post-war fashion
March 18, 2021
After the hardships of World War II, it was such a luxury for a young woman to purchase new, fashionable clothes. So it is for Aida in Song of the Nile, when she returns home to Egypt and explores the fashion scene of Cairo.
1940s Cairo – a colourful, cosmopolitan city
March 15, 2021
‘Englishwomen in morning cottons, French and Italian girls in summer dresses, young Egyptian women with black abbas wrapped around their heads, men in tweeds or long white kaftans, a majestic sheikh in richly embroidered silks’ – welcome to the melting pot of 1940s Cairo.
Bayt Al-Suhaymi: The House of Suhaymi in Cairo
March 11, 2021
One of my favourite buildings in Cairo is the Bayt Al-Suhaymi, by the Khan el Khalili bazaar and souk. With its shady latticed mashrabiya windows, it reminds me of illustrations in the Arabian Nights, tales I would read as a child.
‘Eternal secrecy’: The Sphinx of Giza
March 8, 2021
One of the biggest and the oldest statues in the world, the Great Sphinx of Giza is renowned for its mystic look which speaks of eternal secrecy.
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Abu Simbel, monument to the pharaoh Rameses II
August 5, 2021
In writing articles about my homeland, Egypt, how could I miss out the stunning temples of Abu Simbel at Aswan?
Ancient Egyptian scribes
August 2, 2021
To be a scribe in Ancient Egypt was to live a life of knowledge, respect and wealth…
Unrest in Egypt: Sewing the seeds for revolution
July 29, 2021
My novel Song of the Nile is set in 1940s Egypt, after the World War. This was a time of escapism and making hay while the sun shone. But a revolution was looming…
10 Ancient Egyptian inventions we use today
July 26, 2021
A civilisation of great advances, the legacy of the Ancient Egyptians is evident in many aspects of our lives today.
Will absence make the heart grow fonder?
July 22, 2021
In Song of the Nile, the hero and heroine have a past. Once friends, they were torn apart by a betrayal several years before. So, will absence have made the heart grow fonder – or harder?
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo
July 19, 2021
The Mosque of Ibn Tulun is an iconic and famous building in Cairo – one of the oldest and best-preserved mosques in Egypt.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti
July 15, 2021
Akhenaten was a pharaoh with a vision: to shake up the Ancient Egyptian religion so that there was only one god. He and his queen Nefertiti are among the most famous royal Egyptians.
Never too late to pursue a dream? On literary late bloomers
July 12, 2021
In our modern world it seems to me that there is a great and powerful need to hurry. If you have a dream, there is no time to waste, we are told: go out there right now and seize hold of your dream! But this is not the only path to a dream; and neither, perhaps, is it the best one.
The story of Isis and Osiris
July 8, 2021
Osiris and Isis were very important deities in Ancient Egyptian religion, and their story has endured to this day.
Girl meets boy: writing the pivotal first meeting in a love story
July 5, 2021
‘The first meeting of a hero and heroine in a novel: will it be dramatic, or tender, or dreamy, or antagonistic? Whatever the scenario, one ingredient will be key: chemistry…’
Hatshepsut: The female king of Egypt
July 1, 2021
The second female pharaoh of Egypt, Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty was a formidable woman who ruled the country not as a queen, but as a king.
Ancient Egyptian festivals
June 28, 2021
Festivals were an important part of life in Ancient Egypt, and there were plenty of them!
Anthony and Cleopatra: an enduring love story
June 24, 2021
In a series of blog articles, I am exploring the great love stories of Ancient Egypt. First, Anthony and Cleopatra: passionate, dramatic, epic, it is one of the most enduring stories of all time.
How art inspires my writing
June 21, 2021
‘For as long as I can remember, art has fired up my imagination. I remember gazing at paintings on the wall in my childhood home for ages, dreaming up stories that would play out in the worlds inside the picture frames. When I wrote my first book, it was natural for me to turn to art for inspiration…’
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
June 17, 2021
Hieroglyphs – pictures to represent letters, sounds, objects and ideas – are one of the most enduring legacies of Ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian art
June 14, 2021
When you think of Ancient Egypt, no doubt you think of its distinctive art: embellishments in tombs and temples, beautiful statues, pottery and papyrus.
My latest blog posts
Poetry Week: ‘Travel’ by Robert Louis Stevenson
August 30, 2021
A call to travel, and to experience cultures: ‘I should like to rise and go…’
Song of the Nile’s first award!
August 27, 2021
I’m thrilled that Song of the Nile has won the Romance category in the 2021 American Fiction Awards!
Poetry Week: Love poems of Ancient Egypt
August 26, 2021
Welcome to Poetry Week on my blog! Here’s an article on passionate poems from the ancient civilisation of Egypt.
Tomb robbing in Ancient Egypt
August 23, 2021
Egyptian artefact smuggling is a theme in my novel Song of the Nile, and of course it originates in the age-old crime of tomb robbing.
Taking inspiration from historic nurses
August 19, 2021
In Song of the Nile, my heroine, Aida, is a nurse who has been deeply touched by the stories of great nurses of previous wars.
On men reading books by women
August 16, 2021
Research has shown that men are less keen to read books by women. Why? And is this a helpful attitude?
5 triumphs of Ancient Egypt
August 12, 2021
Ancient Egypt was a great civilisation, and we have the Ancient Egyptians to thank for many advances that are foundation stones of our modern world.
Recipe: Dolma/mahshy
August 9, 2021
One of my favourite Middle Eastern recipes is dolma, which is very popular in Egypt.