kpeeps111 's review for:

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

4.0

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This book is kind of a slog, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. It is very, very long and incredibly detailed. Cleopatra is a fascinating character, and the book takes you through mundane everyday minutiae plus the most momentous historic occasions. She is a living and breathing woman, wife, mother, shrewd politician, and determined warrior. The slog part comes in when you know only bad things are going to happen (spoiler alert for ancient history, I guess), but you still have hundreds and hundreds of pages to get there. The waiting is interminable, which is accurate to the feelings of the characters. It's profound and moving. Anyway, I'm glad I read this book. We saw a production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra a few years ago, so it was interesting to hear the same story from a different perspective.