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    The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
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    The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
    Ebook1,758 pages33 hours

    The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel

    By Margaret George

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Bestselling novelist Margaret George brings to life the glittering kingdom of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, in this lush, sweeping, and richly detailed saga, the basis for the Cleopatra TV mini-series.

    Told in Cleopatra's own voice, The Memoirs of Cleopatra is a mesmerizing tale of ambition, passion, and betrayal in the ancient Egyptian world, which begins when the twenty-year-old queen seeks out the most powerful man in the world, Julius Caesar, and does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Antony, she plots her own death rather than be paraded in triumph through the streets of Rome.

    Most of all, in its richness and authenticity, it is an irresistible story that reveals why Margaret George's work has been widely acclaimed as "the best kind of historical novel, one the reader can't wait to get lost in." (San Francisco Chronicle).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 1, 2010
    ISBN9781429924832
    Unavailable
    The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel
    Author

    Margaret George

    Margaret George is the author of several best-selling novels, including The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scotland & the Isles, and Mary, Called Magdalene. She travels widely to research her novels and lives with her husband in Madison, Wisconsin.

    Read more from Margaret George

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    Reviews for The Memoirs of Cleopatra

    4/5

    50 ratings28 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I'm not drawn in by everything Margaret George writes, but this large and well researched book kept me hooked. She also explained some inconsistencies in the historical records and brought the ancient world alive. The mini series based on the book is not as good as the book itself
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this intelligent, interesting reading of Cleopatra’s life. It’s meticulously researched, and the many details of landscape and daily routine make it more vivid. I was fascinated by the explorations of culture and community, both inside and outside Egypt. At the same time, it’s a personal account, a hypothetical memoir, written as she lived it, and so it’s emotional and open. Cleopatra’s personality, as presented here, rings true for me: a strong, passionate, creative women with a talent for leadership.
    • 3/5
      This was long, very long. The beginning was very promising and gave some good historical detail as to the Ptolemy family and the politics of the time. There just wasn't enough "meat" and it felt like we were along for the ride in Cleo's head. Towards the end, the battle scenes were just too detailed for my taste and I found myself skimming. I think that the book could have been very easily divided into a series.
    • 2/5
      3.5-4 stars.

      The first half of the book was decently paced, and interesting. I understand it takes place from Cleopatra's first person perspective, and I understand it's historical fiction, so anything I questioned or thought to be wrong could just be taken that way, but it just felt like it was written too much by a Cleopatra apologist (and I do have me some Cleo love, so it wasn't any dislike of the character). I feel it focused a little bit too much on the men-folk in her life, and the story ended up DRAGGING when it came to Mark Antony's military exploits later in the book. I started skimming and skipping because I was so bored.
    • 3/5
      To pick up a Margaret George novel is to experience a well-researched epic work. The Memoirs of Cleopatra is no exception. George presents a very intimate story of the legendary Cleopatra, who took a bankrupt, teetering country to its pinnacle of wealth, prosperity and influence, despite overwhelming setbacks and obstacles. My only quibble, as always with George's work, is a certain reservation in the depth of her characters which she tends to move around on the board of her story like set pieces. Beyond that, an absorbing read.
    • 5/5
      I must admit a strong bias in favor of works dealing with Ancient Rome and other classical Mediterranean civilizations. Despite being thoroughly familiar with the history and most of the facts contained in this novel, the writing style (written in the form of Cleopatra's diary) gave it enough of a twist to bring fresh perspectives and interest to a story whose ending is certainly known to anyone who saw Elizabeth Taylor reprise the starring role. While I'm sure that scholars from the period might quibble with aspects of the story line, it is after all a novel and I found it highly entertaining as well as educational on occasion.
    • 4/5
      I loved this story. It was such a wonderful potential insight into the life of Cleopatra. Margaret George does no disappoint. Historical Fiction is a marvelous way to get into History and George knows how to keep us interested.
    • 4/5
      An interesting and involved story of Cleopatra and her life and loves. Sometimes too much detail and the book is weighty. You can see how Margaret George got herself very involved in the character and the situation in the world. I did enjoy it but felt it was a bit long and occasionally could be a bit shorter as things did lag. However it was very interesting and did get you into the mind of the characters.
    • 4/5
      This novel is wonderfully researched, features a great capturing of historical figures (Cleopatra, Marc Antony, Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus), and a perceptive take on their personalities. It's a vibrant panorama of the Meditteranean, particularly Egypt and Rome. The writing is great and it's easy to read (although, if I had a dollar for every exclamation mark ...). But it's a long slog, and not just because it's a large book. The title includes the word 'memoir' and that's exactly what it is, a fictional memoir rather than a novel's classic structure of rising action and tension. There's episodes of that but then it falls away again, unable to sustain itself as the story remains doggedly true to the facts of Cleopatra's life. Action and pace rises and falls throughout (and knowing how it's all going to end doesn't help matters either). Another drawback is that although many significant political and military events take place during Cleopatra's lifetime, she witnessed only a minority of them in person so unfortunately we have to hear about most of them through exposition as Cleopatra receives a letter or messenger to impart the news. Marc Antony's perspective might have made a superior choice for having been more frequently first-hand. Just about anything I picked up to read on the side was more engaging than this novel despite its many excellent qualities, and it was increasingly a chore to come back to. I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad it's over. I prefer the other Margaret George novel I read this year about Henry VIII, which I felt was better structured.
    • 4/5
      It was a great book. Although not completely based on historical facts however pretty close to it. I felt a little too much Jewish influenced. All fictional characters that were added to enhance the story were made to be Jewish and were given high ranking positions in Cleopatra's court.
    • 3/5
      VERY detailed. A little TOO detailed--I lost interest right after Caesar died. I guess I just don't care so much about the administration of warehouses of grain.
    • 4/5
      Good book, it kept me entertained the whole way through, you are drawn in immediatly, I couldnt put it down
    • 5/5
      This is (at the present time & has been for a while) my favorite book. I have read this book 3 times. The size of it never daunts me. The quality of the writing is superb. The story-line is fabulous. It's difficult to put this book down. George did her homework and is a very gifted writer. You won't be disappointed! I never am!
    • 3/5
      Brilliant book, everyone I have recommended it too loved it. Don't be put off by its size, its worth it.
    • 5/5
      Its a big one! But very good and historically accurate. The life of Cleopatra written in the form of a memoir (duh). George is a very descriptive intersting writer. This is the book that made me fall in love with Egypt! There was a made for tv movie based off this book... it wasnt very good.
    • 1/5
      I don't usually give up on a book - but this one.. wow! - what a waste of words. I pushed myself to read past the halfway point thinking that it would get better.. it got worse! On and on about nothing .. such banal chatter.
    • 5/5
      All three of Margaret George's fictional autobiographies make wonderful reading. Will she write any more?
    • 3/5
      It sped up and slowed down for me at different times. It is well written and researched and put together, but was a little long for me. Mostly the battle plans and scenes slowed me down. But the rest was a great story and wonderful to have her first-person narrative on.
    • 5/5
      The Memoirs of Cleopatra explores the life of this most famous Queen of Egypt, from the time she is three years old, witness to her mother's death, to her own at the age of 39. Through her eyes, we discover how she evolves from a naive child to a cunning, ambitious and manipulative politician. Her affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony are also explored in magnificent detail, as well as the manner which her enemies viewed her. Although the story is written from Cleopatra's point of view, the reader sees both sides of the coin, as she recounts much of the propaganda that was written against her by Cicero and Octavian Caesar (who would later become Augustus Caesar).Cleopatra is portrayed differently in her private and public life. With her family and closest friends, she is very caring, loving and passionate. As a politician and ruler of the wealthiest country in the known world, she is manipulative, shrewd and ambitious. Everything she does, she does for Egypt. She's even willing to put Egypt before her own children at times, and she's desperate to have her country return to the glory of old, and have one of her children succeed her to the throne. Thus, she surrounds herself with the most loyal counselors, some of whom are her childhood friends. She has many allies, but more powerful enemies in Rome, including Octavius Caesar, who will do anything to ruin her, even invade Egypt if he must.Both her affairs with Julius Caesar, and later with Marc Antony are recounted in a very nuanced way, both of them being similar yet completely different. Caesar is three decades her senior; he will be the one to teach her about the art of politics and warfare. Passion is present, indeed. But the Queen is young and has just reclaimed her throne. This love is one of infatuation; he's a god to her, she doesn't see his faults. Cleopatra is older and wiser when she decides to take Marc Antony. Her love for him his genuine, but she immediately sees his faults and uses them to her advantage. She knows he would do anything for her, including declaring her as his one and true wife. He is honourable down to the bone, and although he is a great general on the battlefield, his is much too quick to trust, and can't seem to see people's flaws until it is too late. Perhaps his sense of honour and her own ambition, as well as Octavius' friendship with his own general Agrippa, was their downfall.This novel, much like The Autobiography of Henry VIII, is very well researched, the author even offering some of her sources and even including her own afterthoughts on what facets were facts and which were fictitious, and offers suggestions of other books on the subject.Her style is impeccable, and the novel is completely engrossing, as if the reader was actually there. As we follow Cleopatra through all her travels, all the locations she visits are described in amazing details, down to the very colours at any time of day. It's almost as if you could feel the Egyptian sun baking the sand, and the foul smells of Rome.Furthermore, all the characters were interesting in their own way, from Cleopatra herself to her wardrobe specialist Charmian, to even Octavius, who is here portrayed as one of the antagonists in this novel. He would be indeed, since he has become Cleopatra's enemy. 4.5/5
    • 4/5
      Excellent historical novel re a woman who may not have been as stunning as Elizabeth Taylor, but who definitely was *the* woman back then - well educated and a great ruler. Wonderful detail and surprisingly true to what [supposedly] really was the case - or at least as true as it can be determined at this distance.
    • 3/5
      George's first published novel, The Autobiography of Henry VIII is one of my all time favorite historical novels. Both that book and The Memoirs of Cleopatra are doorstopper monsters, almost a thousand pages in length. Yet the Henry VIII book was riveting, just flew by and was very moving. I gave it five stars and it's on my favorites shelf. Having finished the Henry VIII book--years ago--I eagerly bought the Cleopatra book--and found it tedious going. I gave up and the book lay on my bookshelf for over a decade unfinished until I decided to try again. It's a well-researched book, with lots of rich historical detail, and goodness knows the events of Cleopatra's reign makes for stuff just as fascinating, if not more, than Henry of England and his six wives. Yet this book just isn't the engrossing and moving experience of her earlier book. There's an art to taking a historical figure who has had bad press and manage to flesh out and make the character sympathetic. I consider the historic Henry VIII something of a monster, so I thought it a great achievement George gained my sympathy. It might have helped that Henry's "autobiography" had comments appended to it by the king's fool--Will Somers. A man who loved Henry, but wasn't blind to his flaws and could let us know those things Henry couldn't see clearly. Another brilliant book that deals with a villainized monarch is Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, regarding Richard III. That one is told third person from multiple points of view--and shows us Penman's vision of who she thinks is the true Richard. But Cleopatra's first person voice just can't carry the weight. Too often George comes across as an apologist for Cleopatra. Glossing over flaws that would have made her much more interesting, and with little asides about what her enemies say about her that for me beg the question about the real queen. The book reminded me a lot of Anchee Min's Empress Orchid, a first-person novel of the much villainized "Dragon Lady" of late Imperial China. I thought Min too often flinched from dealing with her heroine's dark side, her ruthlessness, and that made the characterization fall flat for me. The same is true of George's Cleopatra, making her far less interesting than the historical record suggests. I see that especially when the novel deals with her affair with Caesar. George writes the relationship as romance novel love at first sight. We have this ruthless teenage queen who didn't flinch from pushing aside one brother from power and may very well have had her other brother-spouse poisoned. A strong queen who got involved with two of the most powerful men in the Roman Empire. I could see a Cleopatra determined to use Caesar to preserve her throne, then maybe falling for him--but the way the book depicts the affair, with her melting into a puddle of goo after one look at his masterful face doesn't feel real to me. And no where in this Cleopatra's voice do I get the sense of her being of a time and place alien to modern sensibilities. I feel I get the glittery surface of onyx and citrus wood and dates and incense, but am left with no insight into Cleopatra and her times. This in contrast to the Henry VIII book, even though I knew the Tudor period well and the story of Henry and his wives was very familiar to me, George's take felt fresh and thought-provoking. This Cleopatra book, however, definitely isn't a book I consider a keeper, and it's not keeping its place on my bookshelves. But that leaves me with a dilemma. Which is the real Margaret George? The author of The Autobiography of Henry VIII or the author of The Memoirs of Cleopatra? George has written other biographical fiction about fascinating female historical figures: Helen of Troy, Mary Magdalene, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. All at doorstopper length. I'm just left wondering which of the books I've read is the anomaly, and whether I should read more of George. Anyone read more of her who can let me know if the other books earned their length?
    • 3/5
      In a word: BORING! Margaret George, as usual, put way too many unnecessary details in this novel. she could of left out a few hundred pages worth of details unnecessary to the telling of the tale and turned this into a fabulous read. The subject matter is so rich the novel should of been compelling. Instead it was a snooze fest. I've sat through lectures by derelict professors that were more captivating.
    • 4/5
      This is such a spellbinding book. A wonderful read thoroughly researched and written in such a way to make it so easy to read and keep you involved with all the historical facts. A huge book but don't be put off - it's a pleasure to read it.Back Cover Blurb:Told in the first person - from the young queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world - this is a mesmerizing saga of ambition and power.It is also a tale of passion that begins when the 21-year-old Cleopatra, desperate to return from exile, seeks out the one man who can help her: Julius Caesar. And it does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Anthony, she plots her own death.....
    • 4/5
      This historical fiction book covers the entire life of the famous Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. The book starts when she is a young child, and ends.....well, I'll leave that up to the reader to find out for him/herself!I'm embarrassed to admit that I started the book knowing next to nothing about Cleopatra. In this case, it was probably a plus that I didn't know much; the book is so huge and detailed that I think it would be easy to get bogged down in if you already knew her story. For me, though, everything came as a surprise, and it made it hard for me to put the book down. I thought the book was very well written, and it was fascinating to read about Cleopatra's time period, and ancient Rome and Egypt. I've added Helen of Troy by George to my TBR list; it sounds as fascinating as Memoirs of Cleopatra was!
    • 4/5
      I was intimidated by the thickness of the book but once I got into it, found it fascinating. Having read other books about Cleopatra, I enjoyed reading her 'take' on her life. Actually, fairly balanced. I didn't like Anthony or see what she saw in him, but who's to say why people come together. There must have been something.
    • 5/5
      Probably one of my favorite books ever. It had everything.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      One of the best historical fictions of Cleopatra that I've ever read. I was instantly in that place with her & instantly became a forever fan of Margaret George. Over the years, I have lent out about 4 copies & wound up re-purchasing this book 4 different times. It is that phenom. Even though it's a tome, it's a very quick read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Remarkable.