From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly transportive dual timeline novel centered around The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the hidden treasures of ancient Egypt.
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archeological dig at Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity, hoping that joining the prestigious expedition – sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art – will be only the first step toward a brilliant career as an archeologist. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same.
New York, 1978: Eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is ready to forge her own life, fed up with living in the shadow of her mother, a former fashion model who never tires of trying to revisit her glory days. So when an opportunity to work for iconic former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland falls into her lap, Annie jumps at the chance. Diana wants her to help organize the famous Met Gala, known across New York City as the “Party of the Year”, hosted by the museum and renowned for its star-studded guest list. And Annie soon realizes that she has her work cut out for her, scrambling to meet Diana’s capricious demands and doing her best to ensure every detail of the event meets Diana’s exacting standards.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the museum’s celebrated Egyptian Art Collection, wants little to do with the upcoming Gala. Never much for socializing, she’s consumed with her research on Hathorkare —a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as a vicious usurper, one who was nearly erased from history by her successor.
That is, until the night of the Gala. When one of the Egyptian Art Collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing…and there are signs Hathorkare's legendary curse might be reawakening.
As Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return to: Egypt. But if they’re to have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.