The Collector's Daughter

The Collector's Daughter by Gill Paul is a historic fictional novel based in the Egyptian setting. A mystery fiction revolving around the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

Blurb:

Lady Evelyn Herbert was the daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, brought up in stunning Highclere Castle. Popular and pretty, she seemed destined for a prestigious marriage, but she had other ideas. Instead, she left behind the world of society balls and chaperones to travel to the Egyptian desert, where she hoped to become a lady archaeologist, working alongside her father and Howard Carter in the hunt for an undisturbed tomb.

In November 1922, their dreams came true when they discovered the burial place of Tutankhamun, packed full of gold and unimaginable riches, and she was the first person to crawl inside for three thousand years. She called it the “greatest moment” of her life—but soon afterwards everything changed, with a string of tragedies that left her world a darker, sadder place.

Newspapers claimed it was “the curse of Tutankhamun,” but Howard Carter said no rational person would entertain such nonsense. Yet fifty years later, when an Egyptian academic came asking questions about what really happened in the tomb, it unleashed a new chain of events that seemed to threaten the happiness Eve had finally found.

Review:

Oh my God.! I loved this book. It reminded me of the movie: The Mummy. How Evelyn goes all the way to the Egyptian desert as an archaeologist to assist her father and Howard. From the very start, I had a good feeling about the book.

The whole setting around Egyptian tombs in the desert (although it's not that much focused on in the book), made me add visiting at least one such tomb to my bucket list. When in November of 1922, Evelyn and her father finally discover the tomb of Tutankhamun, along with the gold and priceless jewels, they are suddenly under a lot of limelight from the villagers nearby and the journalist. After the dig, there's a mysterious illness lingering and affecting so many. People along with the newspaper, later on, declares that the tomb has a curse (calling it 'The curse of Tutankhamun'). And whosoever disrupts the peace of the spirits of the tomb, will be cursed with untreatable illness.

The story takes place in 2 different timelines: the past (1922) and the present (1970s). Evelyn after having another bad stroke is in a bad condition with her speech impairment during the 1970s, when Dr.Ana visits her in the rehabilitation center to interview her about her dig in the 20s. The interview goes well, except Evelyn doesn't know if she should trust Ana, and tell her everything.

Though the book is based on the event surrounding the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, it isn't entirely based on it. The story revolves around the events after the discovery. How it affected Evelyn and the ones involved in the dig, and how their life changed after it. The superstitious beliefs, and how much fear can be ingested in the society during that time (and somewhat even now), are aptly described.

I loved Gill's narrative style and really enjoyed this adventurous, and fascinating story.