Review by
John Anthony West
"The
only true portrait of ancient Egypt in novel form."An extraordinary biographical novel of Egypt's great (and much maligned and misunderstood) Queen Hatshepsut. It provides a unique, in-depth and thoroughly believable portrait of the great female Pharaoh: a woman who, while wielding absolute political power, was at the same time emotionally and philosophically developed and therefore capable of conceiving the enlightened architectural and artistic masterpieces that distinguished her long reign ... all the while glorying in and never losing sight of her own intense femininity.
TRUTH IS THE SOUL OF THE SUN (a literal translation of the Queen's throne name, Maat-ka-Re) is also, to the best of my knowledge, the only novel that captures within a single volume what must have been the reality of daily life in ancient Egypt - from royalty to peasantry.
It is all there and in three dimensions .. the divinity-driven, Nile-blessed land in all its magical, hierarchical complexity, its profound sacred science, pervasive religious reverence, its exotic unparalleled material richness, its relentless heat, its obsession with artistic perfection and its enviable ability to unabashedly celebrate the erotic ... without for a moment losing sight of the underlying 'esoteric' that fuels it.
TRUTH IS THE SOUL OF THE SUN is an exhilarating literary immersion course that captures ancient Egypt in its entirety, the only novel I know of that even gets close.
Review for The Historical Novel Society by Steve Donoghue
Truth is the Soul of the Sun, Maria Isabel Pita's historical novel about Hatshepsut, is over 500 pages long and has dozens of footnotes. Pita follows her subject from childhood to twenty years of ruling as Pharaoh Hatshepsut-Maatkare and includes a cast of hundreds along the way. In less adept hands, such a profusion of detail would almost certainly prove deadly (several highly publicized historical fiction tomes of the last few years come to mind), but Pita has a consummate storyteller's skill for pacing--and as a result, this long novel is an absorbing reading experience.
Hatshepsut of course is one of the `big three' female protagonists in Egyptian history--but she wielded far more real power than either Nefertiti or Cleopatra, and she ruled longer than both of them combined. In Pita's tale, she relies on two men: high priest and governor Hapuseneb, whom she warily respects, and Senmut, a commoner she raises to minister and loves. Senmut is a fascinating creation, an honest man caught between love and devotion... it's a tribute to Pita's skills that Hatshepsut herself ends up towering over all other characters in this novel. The decision to follow her through every trial over years bears fruit: readers will close the book feeling they've known this remarkable woman. Highly recommended.
Review by Ben Morales-Correa For Egypt Then And Now
Historical objectivity and sensuality of expression interweave across the entire span of “Truth is the Soul of the Sun“, Maria Isabel Pita’s new biographical novel of Hatshepsut, arguably the most powerful woman of all time. We can tell that Pita worked tirelessly and with the same level of passion with which she communicates human emotion in her erotic literature to construe how a woman was able to break the long line of male kings and wear the double crown of the Two Lands as Maatkare, hence the title.
Granted,
“Truth
is
the
Soul of the Sun” is a chronological narrative of love and power
with little suspense, but this is more than compensated by the parallel
metaphysical world that Pita
evokes with her magnificent and prolific use of imagery. The queen who
would be king might be the main official
character, but it is Maat, the spirit of beauty and order, a
transcendent creative power breathing life, which
is the true catalyst for the author’s
inspiration. Thus, the novel demands a slower pace of reading,
heightening our senses as
we turn every page and imbue ourselves in the realm of beauty and
spirituality of 18th dynasty Egypt.
Paradoxically, Maatkare Hatshepsut’s unique achievement of becoming a female Horus did not lead to any further break of tradition. In fact, once pharaoh, Hatshepsut limited herself to preserve Maat, exercise sekhem and perform heka and did not do anything different from previous rulers. Her greatness is inextricably attached to the support of two loyal and powerful male characters, whose relationship with the female king allows us to experience her womanhood.
To truly appreciate “Truth is the Soul of the Sun”, the reader must have a reasonable knowledge of Egyptology, as Pita thoroughly explains the symbolism and the neteru (she prefers to use neters) of Ancient Egypt, and names the cities and villages in the original Egyptian language. However, the publication includes references and more than a hundred footnotes.
In
conclusion,
“Truth is the Soul of the Sun”
is
a
fascinating,
well-researched and richly narrated biography in the historical fiction
genre recommended for anyone interested in strong women in history.
The First Amazon.com Reviews
Maria Isabel Pita has accomplished a true feat in her book TRUTH IS THE SOUL OF THE SUN (the name of the book is a translation of Hatshepsut-Maatkare's name) - a book of obviously demanding research coupled with a degree of fictionalized spaces where more is not known, 'more' in this case being the sensual side of the queen who history has proven to be the most powerful female ever known. Pita takes 550 pages to tell her story: reading this book takes a big commitment of time. Not that Pita does not write well (she in fact writes with a fine sense of flow of thoughts along with her careful documentation of facts), but the story is about Egypt and requires so many names of persons and gods and ideas that keeping the story straight is, at times, problematic.
But for those who love Egyptian history this biographical novel is a treasure trove. Not only does Pita give us the strangely startling emergence of Hatshepsut to the place of royalty and eventually the role of the Female Falcon who ruled Egypt as one as closely tied to divinity as any of her predecessors or subsequent rulers, but she also is able to fashion a rather incredible picture of a woman who was adored on many levels - including the complete allegiance of the men of Egypt. There are sufficient forays into her sensual side to satisfy the reader who prefers 'doctored historical fiction', but the achievement here is a work that pulls together the fragments of knowledge about a phenomenal queen into one significant survey. The book many be a bit too long and demanding for the casual reader, but for those who relish a good story about an important historical figure from ancient
One Word Says it All
Magnificent! Enchanting from cover to cover. My only regret is that I cannot give this marvelous work a hundred stars rather than a mere five. Review by Peggy Ullman Bell
Excellent Book
Huge biographical novel of Hatshepsut; extremely interesting well researched and very detailed; recommend to anyone who enjoys Egypt and their Pharaohs.
GREAT Book for History Buffs - Good Read For Anyone
Truth is the Soul of the Sun is one of the rare works of historical fiction in which the "fiction" does not overpower the "history."
This book brings Hatshepsut's world to life; the culture, religion and architecture of ancient Egypt surround the reader, who is given an intimate glimpse into the daily lives of the royal court. Even though much is yet to be learned about Hatshepsut's life, Maria Isabel Pita uses her knowledge of Egyptian history to weave the facts together with just enough fancy to transform an ancient sculpture into a living, breathing woman.
Before I purchased this book, I was a little intimidated that several reviews warned about difficulty keeping track of all the names/characters. The book begins with a guide listing the name and relation and/or official title of each character. I SKIPPED THE GUIDE COMPLETELY and simply began reading the book- and I had NO trouble keeping track of anyone. Once I had FINISHED the book, I went back and looked at the name guide. If I had read the name guide FIRST, I would have been under the impression that the book would make no sense unless I first memorized all of that information, which is not the case at all. Review by A. Crater
Very Good Read
I have always loved ancient Egyptian lore and especially works involving Hatshepsut. Lovely book... very well written enough fact blended with fiction. Loved it.
