A review by saamunds
Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth by Colleen Darnell, John Darnell

Egypt's Golden Couple is a non-fiction book about the Pharoah Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti and their reign during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, around 3000 years ago. Interspersed with fictionalized scenes based on historical interpretations the authors do an excellent job of bring these two people to life, especially since Akhenaten's reign was considered quite heretical and there was a good attempt at erasing him from the list of rulers. I really enjoyed how the authors, themselves archaeologists, are showing that over time there is an increasing amount of finds relating to Akhenaten and Nefertiti which change what we know and believe about their rule, while still noting that the bulk of the historical record is missing. The way they interspersed some fictionalized scenes with the straight history, including explaining the basis for the fictionalizations (tomb art, carvings, figurines, monuments) both humanizes the couple while making for interesting reading. Overall a good addition to any ancient Egyptian readings.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free e-book.