“The Harem Plot” by Abraham Juárez, a historical fiction about the outcome of the last great pharaoh of Egypt.

Abraham Juarez in The Harem Plot It has made me fall in love again with historical fiction and, specifically, Ancient Egypt. Very sincerely, I must admit that it has kept me glued to its pages for days and that not only have I learned about an exciting period in Egyptian history, but even as an agent and as a professional in the publishing industry, it has taught me a lot about the arguments that we could consider successful. Because writing historical novels is something that doesn’t seem easy to me. There is a very fine line between exposition and narration and both must occur in the genre without dragging each other.

Con The Harem Plot we are in the New Kingdom of Egyptin the 20th dynastyduring the reign of Ramesses III. It is a period of peace, at least at the beginning of history, because Ramses wanted to return to his people the well-being already conquered by Ramses II and lost after his death.

In this context, a real event also occurs known as the harem conspiracyfrom which this title takes its name, and which represents the outcome of the last great governor of Egypt, our Ramses III. I was pleased to discover in this amalgam of fiction and reality that not only is such a conspiracy documented, but that there are different papyri containing the names of the conspirators and that, indeed, in 2012 this outcome was confirmed (which I will not reveal). here) with a CT scan of the pharaoh’s mummy. Fascinating! But for greater reader satisfaction, to all this is added the assault on royal tombs that during the Third Intermediate Period occurred to sell the stolen treasures on the black market of antiquities and that Abraham has moved a little historical period to also include in our novel.

So we have conspiracies, pharaohs, raids on royal tombs and historical events narrated alongside excellent fiction. And yet, we still have almost nothing of this exciting story.

Personally, I believed that the novel would revolve around Ramses III as the central axis and what was my surprise to discover that He is a humble Canaanite, Kemish, along with his three sons, who thread the entire plot.. It is these, on their journey towards Thebes, that activate that perfect mechanism that makes all the pieces fall. Because they all fall under the weight of one word: ambition.

From Kemish, our protagonist, and narrator at times, the story of his three children branches out, who, in turn, branch out their destinies (and ours as readers) with Ramses III, Ramosé, Tiyi, Isis and Pentaur, that is, with the children of Ramses III and his two wives. There are many more characters, in fact, at the beginning there is a charactersbut the circle closes with these that I name here.

The context and historical documentation is unbeatable. Abraham Juárez in The Harem Plot Not only does it use the lexicon of the time, as well as the original name that the territories or utensils that we now use had at that time, but writes fiction on a historical cushion completely assimilated per se, controlled and more than studied, so that our immersion is natural and fluid in an era that, after all, is foreign to us. Juárez makes walking through this history easy.

Maybe What I liked least are some transitions within the plot, such as those that have to do with romantic relationships.. I have the feeling that they are all to the point and there is no prior justification of courtship or a credible crush for the reader (which in this case is me and my opinion, after all, is subjective). There is also a part where we are introduced to Ramses III with a certain illness that does not make much sense because that topic had not been discussed before and yet it suddenly appears in the story. Finally, I didn’t find one of the reunions between brothers very credible either.

If I have to leave with one drawback, whatever it may be, it would be the little intensity I have found in romantic relationships because in real life I am not, but in literary life I do like to be quite intense and loving 😜

Beyond all this, find a higher meaning to the whole storyboth the real one, with its wonderful historical facts, that conspiracy that Juárez tells us slowly, but without pause, where we see how all the threads move from different narrators and perspectives, some more silent, neutral, passive, and others more direct and active, as well as the fictional part, where, for example, we give a name and face to the son who did not finally occupy the throne or we meet Kemish’s three fascinating children, having the opportunity for each of them to tell us their own story, as adventurous as it is dramatic, is the icing on the cake. Beyond the adventure, the thrillerthe past of an exotic pharaonic Egypt, There is a meaning that is known to us and that I have already named: ambition.

None of this plot could have been woven without ambition, that of Juárez, of course, but nothing that happened, whether reality or fiction, could have happened without the invisible hand of ambition. And it is not only a litany that accompanies us throughout the text but also a sensation. So as icing on the cake we have a reason.

The Harem Plot of Abraham Juarez It has been my great discovery of the year. A historical novel that narrates the outcome of the last great pharaoh of Egypt supported by real historical events known as the harem conspiracy where the pharaoh’s two wives fought for the throne of Egypt for their children. Without being, furthermore, in the novel that concerns us, protagonists of anything because these are others, much more humble, the children of a humble Canaanite who left his land in search of a better future in Thebes and who found a desolate destiny marked for ambition. All of this guided by the pen of a documented author gifted with extraordinary literary quality. My congratulations.