Review: Egyptian Woman: A Year in the Life..

First of all, I love the kindle.  It's so easy to read a book with the kindle, or kindle app, versus a real paper book when you have three kids five and under.  I don't get a lot of time to read, and when I do I'm usually hunting for wherever I left my book.  I even have to hunt around for my kindle most of the time.  The auto sync with the app on my phone is a life saver because I can switch off between my phone and the kindle and actually get through a book.

So, maybe this will color my review, but it's been a long time since I've actually read a real, adult book.  All of it. But I really did enjoy this one.  Not only was it an interesting story, but I felt like I learned a lot in the process.

The book I just finished is called Egyptian Woman: A year in the life of a woman during the reign of Ramesses II .  Yes, it is a mouthful.  It is totally worth reading though!  I came across this book on accident while searching for other books on Egypt for our homeschool next year.  I've been doing so much researching the adult version of a living book intrugied me so I went ahead and purchased it.  I can honestly say I'm so glad this book crossed my path.

This book is written as a story that follows the life of a middle age woman in Egypt.  She is from a middle class family and through her experiences you are able to really see what life would have been like back then.  Each chapter in the book is one month of the year, all centered around relgious festivals they have going on.  I had no idea they had so many festivals!

The author was able to touch upon almost every subject you can think of.  Happy events such as marriage and childbirth.  Sad events such as death, of both the elderly and a child, war, and infertility.  It dicusses their gods and beliefs, medicine, food, jobs, family life, even puberity.

The woman in the book has 6 children and throughout the story you get to learn all of theirs as well.  From the daughter who has just entered womanhood to the boy who runs off to war, it's easy to feel both a sense of familiarity as well as something exotic and foreign.

If you have an interest in history, Egypt, or just curious about what family life looked like in ancient times, I recommend this book. 

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